Deniz Ece Aydin

Global Challenge: Working on cellular therapies as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract:

"Synthetic biology is a cutting-edge field that combines biology and engineering to develop new ways to treat diseases, including Alzheimer's Disease, a common form of dementia. One of the major goals in synthetic biology is to guide stem cells to transform into specific types of cells needed for treatment, a process known as differentiation. This is especially important in creating targeted therapies, such as immunotherapies, where cells are programmed to fight disease. Our research is focused on making this differentiation process more reliable and controlled. We use a special tool called A2-ubiquitous chromatin opening elements (A2UCOE), which help keep important areas of DNA accessible and active.

This prevents the DNA from being shut down by a process called methylation, which can stop cells from transforming correctly. In our study, we aimed to turn stem cells into thymic epithelial cells (TECs), which are crucial for training the immune system. We designed a compact gene circuit—a kind of biological programming—that includes a doxycycline-inducible system with A2UCOE and FOXN1, a key factor for making TECs. While this approach showed promise, we also faced challenges like unintentional activation of genes, leading to premature cell changes. To address this, we tested different DNA sequences to find the best setup that would reduce unintended effects and improve the precision of our gene circuit. Our adjustments made the process more accurate, showing the potential of synthetic biology to enhance treatments for Alzheimer's Disease. This research not only pushes the boundaries of what synthetic biology can achieve but also offers hope for developing more effective therapies for challenging diseases.

This study is directly aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring good health and well-being by advancing our ability to create more precise and effective treatments for diseases like Alzheimer's. Over the past three years in my academic work, GLASS has motivated me to tie my research to a global challenge area. As someone who joined the field with a goal of bringing solutions to challenges in healthcare, my goals were aligned with what the program pushed me to do. I have gained perspective through my participation in conferences where I met prominent academics, and through my experience in different lab settings, whether it be a protein engineering lab in Istanbul or a computational chemistry lab in Abu Dhabi. GLASS has helped me weave these experiences into a unified approach towards global health innovation."

Bio:

Ece is set to graduate from NYU with a degree in Biomolecular Science and a minor in Computer Science in May 2025. Growing up in Istanbul and participating in many international summer camps across the globe, she was always fond of making connections that surpassed geographical boundaries. With a passion to bring academic rigor to the biotechnology field and a global curiosity she routinely explores, becoming a member of GLASS was an easy decision for her.

Through the program she spent a semester abroad in NYU Abu Dhabi, attended numerous conferences, worked in multiple research labs from Istanbul to New York, organized a fundraiser, taught high school students how to be innovators, won multiple awards for her research videos at the NYU Tandon Undergraduate Summer Research Program, and many more.

With a keen interest in studying immunotherapies for Alzheimer’s Disease, she will be continuing her education with a MS in Biotechnology at Tandon starting the Fall of 2025, writing her thesis under the supervision of Dr. David Truong. In her free time, she loves to work on her creative side with the media ranging from the strings of her guitar, lens of her camera, tip of her charcoal pencils, or the flavors in her kitchen.