Uğur Akcan

High prevalence of CNS-directed autoantibodies in patients with schizophrenia

This study identifies a high prevalence of CNS-directed autoantibodies in schizophrenia patients, linking them to disease severity, treatment resistance, and potential therapeutic targets.

Th17 effector cytokines induce shared and distinct microglial and endothelial cell responses in post-streptococcal encephalitis

This study identifies IL-17A-IL-17RA signaling in microglia as a critical driver of BBB dysfunction after GAS infections using single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics.

Generation of hiPSC-derived brain microvascular endothelial cells using a combination of directed differentiation and transcriptional reprogramming strategies

This paper generates and characterizes reprogrammed brain microvascular endothelial cells from hiPSCs using transcription factors FOXF2 and ZIC3, showing improved BBB properties and integration with neural cells in a 3D system.

Single-cell RNA sequencing implicates venous endothelial cells as a source of VEGF-A-mediated neo-angiogenesis in neuroinflammation

Protein scaffold-based multimerization of soluble ACE2 efficiently blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and in vivo

The paper develops multimeric sACE2 decoys using SunTag or MoonTag systems, showing >100-fold increased SARS-CoV-2 neutralization compared to monomeric sACE2.