07/01/2026
Umut Şahin, a faculty member at Sabancı University's Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, has been awarded funding for his project under the TÜBİTAK 2515-COST European Cooperation in Science and Technology Programme's "A Sound Proteome For a Sound Body: Targeting Proteolysis For Proteome Remodeling (ProteoCure-CA20113)" action.
Associate Professor Umut Şahin provided the following information about his project, entitled "Improving Cas9 Function and CRISPR Gene Editing Efficiency Through SUMOylation," which will be supported by TÜBİTAK 2515-COST:
"The Cas9 protein is the main component of the CRISPR gene editing platform, one of the most effective and groundbreaking discoveries of modern science." In nature, CRISPR functions as a type of antiviral immunity mechanism in bacteria. Recently, it has evolved into a technology platform that allows us to modify DNA sequences in targeted regions as desired, and it has potential for use in many fields, from medicine to biotechnology. Cas9 is an enzyme responsible for cutting double-stranded DNA and can be programmed with a guide RNA to target the desired region of the genome. Despite all the advancements and widespread use in this field, our knowledge of the mechanisms regulating the CRISPR/Cas9 system, and especially the Cas9 enzyme, in human cells is quite limited. Fine-tuning Cas9 activity is critically important for laboratory research, biotechnological applications, and clinical use of the CRISPR system.
Until a recent article published by our team, no control mechanism for the Cas9 enzyme in human cells had yet been demonstrated. In our study, we showed that the Cas9 enzyme expressed in mammalian cells undergoes a significant modification called SUMOylation (SUMO: Small ubiquitin-like modifier) at a specific point in its catalytic region that cuts the target DNA strand. We also demonstrated that this modification positively regulates the stability of the Cas9 enzyme and its binding to targeted DNA regions. In this new project, which will be supported under the TÜBİTAK 2515-COST program, we hope to produce Cas9 variants with high CRISPR activity and gene editing efficiency, based on our aforementioned results.”
About ProteoCure COST Action:
ProteoCure COST Action is a European research network focused on investigating the proteolytic mechanisms responsible for protein degradation and developing new and effective therapies by targeting these systems. Because proteolytic disorders are associated with many diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and aging, Action aims to bring together academic, clinical, and industrial researchers to exchange knowledge, provide training, and develop innovative tools. The ultimate goal is to support the transformation of scientific findings in this field into applications with clinical and economic value.
