Publications

Full list of the publications and citations can be found on GoogleScholar and PubMed.

2026

  • Kus ME, Ekiz HA. Dissecting the metabolic landscape of breast cancer subtypes via elastic net modeling and examining its immune correlates. Turk J Biochem 2026. https://doi.org/10.1515/tjb-2025-0417.

  • Nelson MC, O’Malley LC, Lee S-H, Bauer KM, Ghazaryan A, Tang WW, VanSant-Webb C, Tran VB, Hernandez C, Battistone B, Thibeaux A, Round JL, Drummond MJ, Ekiz HA, Evason KJ, Voth WP, O’Connell RM. MicroRNA-146a Protects against Hepatocellular Carcinoma through Suppression of CCL5. Cancer Res Commun 2026;6:359–73. https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0474.

2025

  • Weis AM, Bauer KM, Tang WW, Stephen-Victor E, Bell R, Brown DG, Ekiz HA, Tran V, Klag KA, Swanson EA, Barrios L, Harwood M, Hill JH, Ost KS, Gigic B, Schneider M, Ose J, Hardikar S, Toriola AT, Shibata D, Li CI, Figueiredo JC, Byrd DA, Siegel EM, Arnolds K, Lozupone C, Ulrich CM, O’Connell RM, Stephens WZ, Round JL. A capsular polysaccharide from a healthy human microbiota member activates a Lag-3-NK cell axis to restrain colon cancer and augment immunotherapy. Cell Rep 2025;44:116172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116172.

  • Can I, Siegler EL, Sirpilla OL, Manriquez-Roman C, Yun K, Stewart CM, Feigin JM, Rodriguez ML, Gutierrez-Ruiz OL, Ogbodo EJ, Huynh TN, Kimball BL, Mai LK, Hefazi M, Fonkoua LK, Xia H, Hamaidi I, Alkan B, Sezer F, Ekiz HA, Sakemura RL, Kenderian SS. Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domains. Mol Cancer 2025;24:172. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-025-02371-1.

  • Kus ME, Sahin C, Kilic E, Askin A, Ozgur MM, Karahanogullari G, Aksit A, O’Connell RM, Ekiz HA. TCGEx: a powerful visual interface for exploring and analyzing cancer gene expression data. EMBO Rep 2025:1–28. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44319-025-00407-7.

  • Tang WW, Battistone B, Bauer KM, Weis AM, Barba C, Fadlullah MZH, Ghazaryan A, Tran VB, Lee S-H, Agir ZB, Nelson MC, Victor ES, Thibeaux A, Hernandez C, Tantalla J, Tan AC, Rao D, Williams M, Drummond MJ, Beswick EJ, Round JL, Ekiz HA, Voth WP, O’Connell RM. A microRNA-regulated transcriptional state defines intratumoral CD8+ T cells that respond to immunotherapy. Cell Rep 2025;44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115301.

2024

  • Wee Y, Wang J, Wilson EC, Rich CP, Rogers A, Tong Z, DeGroot E, Gopal YNV, Davies MA, Ekiz HA, Tay JKH, Stubben C, Boucher KM, Oviedo JM, Fairfax KC, Williams MA, Holmen SL, Wolff RK, Grossmann AH. Tumour-intrinsic endomembrane trafficking by ARF6 shapes an immunosuppressive microenvironment that drives melanomagenesis and response to checkpoint blockade therapy. Nat Commun 2024;15:6613. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50881-1.

2023

  • Kus ME, Sahin C, Kilic E, Askin A, Ozgur MM, Karahanogulları G, Aksit A, O’Connell RM, Ekiz HA. TCGEx: A visual interface for multifaceted analyses of The Cancer Genome Atlas gene expression data. bioRxiv (2023)2023.08.14.553075. doi: 10.1101/2023.08.14.553075

  • Warde KM, Smith LJ, Liu L, Stubben CJ, Lohman BK, Willett PW, Ammer JL, Castaneda-Hernandez G, Imodoye SO, Zhang C, et al. Senescence-induced immune remodeling facilitates metastatic adrenal cancer in a sex-dimorphic manner. Nature Aging 2023 3:7 (2023) 3:846–865. doi: 10.1038/s43587-023-00420-2

  • Quail DF, Park M, Welm AL, Ekiz HA. Breast Cancer Immunity: It is TIME for the Next Chapter. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med (2023)a041324. doi: 10.1101/CSHPERSPECT.A041324

  • Thompson JW, Hu R, Huffaker TB, Ramstead AG, Ekiz HA, Bauer KM, Tang WW, Ghazaryan A, Round JL, Fujinami RS, et al. MicroRNA-155 Plays Selective Cell-Intrinsic Roles in Brain-Infiltrating Immune Cell Populations during Neuroinflammation. J Immunol (2023) 210: doi: 10.4049/JIMMUNOL.2200478

  • Barba C, Atakan Ekiz H, Tang WW, Ghazaryan A, Hansen M, Lee S-H, Voth WP, Michael O’connell R. Interferon Gamma-Inducible NAMPT in Melanoma Cells Serves as a Mechanism of Resistance to Enhance Tumor Growth. Cancers 2023, Vol 15, Page 1411 (2023) 15:1411. doi: 10.3390/CANCERS15051411

  • Lo WL, Kuhlmann M, Rizzuto G, Ekiz HA, Kolawole EM, Revelo MP, Andargachew R, Li Z, Tsai YL, Marson A, et al. A single-amino acid substitution in the adaptor LAT accelerates TCR proofreading kinetics and alters T-cell selection, maintenance and function. Nat Immunol (2023) 24: doi: 10.1038/S41590-023-01444-X

2022

  • Tang WW, Bauer KM, Barba C, Ekiz HA, O’Connell RM. miR-aculous new avenues for cancer immunotherapy. Front Immunol (2022) 13: doi: 10.3389/FIMMU.2022.929677

  • Ma WF, Turner AW, Gancayco C, Wong D, Song Y, Mosquera JV, Auguste G, Hodonsky CJ, Prabhakar A, Ekiz HA, et al. PlaqView 2.0: A comprehensive web portal for cardiovascular single-cell genomics. Front Cardiovasc Med (2022) 0:2186. doi: 10.3389/FCVM.2022.969421

2021

  • Stephens WZ, Kubinak JL, Ghazaryan A, Bauer KM, Bell R, Buhrke K, Chiaro TR, Weis AM, Tang WW, Monts JK, et al. Epithelial-myeloid exchange of MHC class II constrains immunity and microbiota composition. Cell Rep (2021) 37: doi: 10.1016/J.CELREP.2021.109916

  • Lai SCA, Gundlapalli H, Ekiz HA, Jiang A, Fernandez E, Welm AL. Blocking short-form ron eliminates breast cancer metastases through accumulation of stem-like cd4+ t cells that subvert immunosuppression. Cancer Discov (2021) 11:3178–3197. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-20-1172/674153/AM/BLOCKING-SHORT-FORM-RON-ELIMINATES-BREAST-CANCER

  • Scherer SD, Riggio AI, Haroun F, DeRose YS, Ekiz HA, Fujita M, Toner J, Zhao L, Li Z, Oesterreich S, et al. An immune-humanized patient-derived xenograft model of estrogen-independent, hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research (2021) 23: doi: 10.1186/s13058-021-01476-x

  • Huffaker TB, Ekiz HA, Barba C, Lee SH, Runtsch MC, Nelson MC, Bauer KM, Tang WW, Mosbruger TL, Cox JE, et al. A Stat1 bound enhancer promotes Nampt expression and function within tumor associated macrophages. Nat Commun (2021) 12:1–19. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22923-5

  • Fix DK, Ekiz HA, Petrocelli JJ, Mckenzie AM, Mahmassani ZS, O’Connell RM, Drummond MJ. Disrupted macrophage metabolic reprogramming in aged soleus muscle during early recovery following disuse atrophy. Aging Cell (2021) 20:e13448. doi: 10.1111/acel.13448

  • Cortés-Selva D, Gibbs L, Ready A, Ekiz HA, O’Connell R, Rajwa B, Fairfax KC, O’Connell R, Rajwa B, Fairfax KC. Maternal schistosomiasis impairs offspring Interleukin-4 production and B cell expansion. PLoS Pathog (2021) 17:e1009260. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009260

2020

  • Ekiz HA, Ramstead AG, Lee S-H, Nelson MC, Bauer KM, Wallace JA, Hu R, Round JL, Rutter J, Drummond MJ, et al. T Cell–Expressed microRNA-155 Reduces Lifespan in a Mouse Model of Age-Related Chronic Inflammation. The Journal of Immunology (2020) 204:2064–2075. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1901484

  • Snook JP, Soedel AJ, Ekiz HA, O’Connell RM, Williams MA. Inhibition of SHP-1 Expands the Repertoire of Antitumor T Cells Available to Respond to Immune Checkpoint Blockade. Cancer Immunol Res (2020) 8:506–517. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-19-0690

  • Ramstead AG, Wallace JA, Lee SH, Bauer KM, Tang WW, Ekiz HA, Lane TE, Cluntun AA, Bettini ML, Round JL, et al. Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier 1 Promotes Peripheral T Cell Homeostasis through Metabolic Regulation of Thymic Development. Cell Rep (2020) 30:2889-2899.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.02.042

  • Ekiz HA, Conley CJ, Stephens WZ, O’Connell RM. CIPR: a web-based R/shiny app and R package to annotate cell clusters in single cell RNA sequencing experiments. BMC Bioinformatics (2020) 21:191. doi: 10.1186/s12859-020-3538-2

  • Syage AR, Ekiz HA, Skinner DD, Stone C, O’Connell RM, Lane TE. Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals the Diversity of the Immunological Landscape following Central Nervous System Infection by a Murine Coronavirus. J Virol (2020) 94: doi: 10.1128/jvi.01295-20

  • Mangale V, Syage AR, Ekiz HA, Skinner DD, Cheng Y, Stone CL, Brown RM, O’Connell RM, Green KN, Lane TE. Microglia influence host defense, disease, and repair following murine coronavirus infection of the central nervous system. Glia (2020) 68:2345–2360. doi: 10.1002/glia.23844

2019

  • Petersen C, Bell R, Klag KA, Lee SH, Soto R, Ghazaryan A, Buhrke K, Atakan Ekiz H, Ost KS, Boudina S, et al. T cell–mediated regulation of the microbiota protects against obesity. Science (1979) (2019) 365:eaat9351. doi: 10.1126/science.aat9351

  • Ekiz HA, Huffaker TB, Grossmann AH, Zac Stephens W, Williams MA, Round JL, O’Connell RM, Atakan Ekiz H, Huffaker TB, Grossmann AH, et al. MicroRNA-155 coordinates the immunological landscape within murine melanoma and correlates with immunity in human cancers. JCI Insight (2019) 4:e126543. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.126543

  • Atakan Ekiz H, Huffaker TB, Grossmann AH, Zac Stephens W, Williams MA, Round JL, O’Connell RM. MicroRNA-155 coordinates the immunological landscape within murine melanoma and correlates with immunity in human cancers. JCI Insight (2019) 4: doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.126543

2018

  • Ekiz HA, Lai SCA, Gundlapalli H, Haroun F, Williams MA, Welm AL. Inhibition of RON kinase potentiates anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapy to shrink breast tumors and prevent metastatic outgrowth. Oncoimmunology (2018) 7:1–16. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2018.1480286

2017 and before

  • Drobysheva D, Smith BA, McDowell M, Guillen KP, Ekiz HA, Welm BE. Transformation of enriched mammary cell populations with polyomavirus middle T antigen influences tumor subtype and metastatic potential. Breast Cancer Research (2015) 17:1–17. doi: 10.1186/s13058-015-0641-9

  • McKenzie JA, Liu T, Jung JY, Jones BB, Ekiz HA, Welm AL, Grossman D. Survivin promotion of melanoma metastasis requires upregulation of α5 integrin. Carcinogenesis (2013) 34:2137–2144. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgt155

  • Eyob H, Ekiz HA, DeRose YS, Waltz SE, Williams MA, Welm AL. Inhibition of Ron kinase blocks conversion of micrometastases to overt metastases by boosting antitumor immunity. Cancer Discov (2013) 3:751–760. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-12-0480

  • Eyob H, Ekiz HA, Welm AL. RON promotes the metastatic spread of breast carcinomas by subverting antitumor immune responses. Oncoimmunology (2013) 2:7–10. doi: 10.4161/onci.25670

  • Ekiz HA, Can G, Baran Y. Role of autophagy in the progression and suppression of leukemias. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol (2012) 81:275–285. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2011.03.009

  • Avci CB, Yilmaz S, Dogan ZO, Saydam G, Dodurga Y, Ekiz HA, Kartal M, Sahin F, Baran Y, Gunduz C. Quercetin-induced apoptosis involves increased hTERT enzyme activity of leukemic cells. Hematology (2011) 16:303–307. doi: 10.1179/102453311X13085644680104

  • Can G, Ekiz HA, Baran Y. Imatinib induces autophagy through BECLIN-1 and ATG5 genes in chronic myeloid leukemia cells. Hematology (2011) 16:95–99. doi: 10.1179/102453311X12902908412039

  • Ekiz HA, Baran Y. Bioactive Sphingolipids in Response to Chemotherapy : A Scope on Leukemias Ceramide Ceramide ‐ 1 ‐ Phosphate Glucosylceramide Dihydroceramide Sphingosine Sphingosine ‐ 1 ‐ Phosphate. Anticancer Agents Med Chem (2011) 11:385–397. doi: 10.2174/187152011795677571

  • Şanli-Mohamed G, Turan T, Ekiz HA, Baran Y. [The importance of protein profiling in the diagnosis and treatment of hematological malignancies]. Turkish Journal of Hematology (2011) 28:1–14. doi: 10.5152/tjh.2011.01

  • Kosova B, Tezcanli B, Ekiz HA, Cakir Z, Selvi N, Dalmizrak A, Kartal M, Gunduz U, Baran Y. Suppression of STAT5A increases chemotherapeutic sensitivity in imatinib-resistant and imatinib-sensitive K562 cells. Leuk Lymphoma (2010) 51:1895–1901. doi: 10.3109/10428194.2010.507830

  • Ekiz HA, Baran Y. Therapeutic applications of bioactive sphingolipids in hematological malignancies. Int J Cancer (2010) 127:1497–1506. doi: 10.1002/ijc.25478

  • Ekiz HA, Can G, Gunduz U, Baran Y. Nilotinib significantly induces apoptosis in imatinib resistant K562 cells with wild-type BCR-ABL, as effectively as in parental sensitive counterparts. Hematology (2010) 15:33–38. doi: 10.1179/102453310X12583347009775

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