In his PhD research, Emrah Kara has designed new tools to reveal substrate specificity of factor seven activating protease (FSAP) and Marburg-I-FSAP, and to measure FSAP activity.

MAIN RESULTS:

1. A new advanced phage-display library has been designed to study substrate specificity of FSAP and Marburg-I-FSAP.
2. Two new fluorescent probes have been designed to measure FSAP activity.

THESIS DEFENCE:

Thesis: Identifying Factor-VII Activating Protease (FSAP) Substrate Specificity by Phage Display
Candidate: Emrah Kara
Time: November 15, 2018 at 13:00
Place: Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet: Green auditorium
Link to university website (in Norwegian)

SUMMARY:

(1) The enzyme factor seven activating protease (FSAP) cleaves other proteins, which changes the functions of these proteins. FSAP seems to be involved in atherosclerosis, stroke and myocardial infarction, and the common genetic variant Marburg-I-FSAP is particularly linked to carotid stenosis and stroke. However, the target recognition and substrate specificity of FSAP is largely unknown.

Phage-display is a method for studying interactions between peptides and proteins, and in his PhD thesis, Emrah Kara has designed a new advanced phage-display library in order to study the substrate specificity of FSAP and Marburg-I-FSAP. Subsequently, two new fluorescent probes were designed to measure the FSAP activity.

REFERENCES:

(1) Kara, E., Manna, D., Løset, G. Å., Schneider, E. L., Craik, C. S., & Kanse, S. (2017). Analysis of the substrate specificity of Factor VII activating protease (FSAP) and design of specific and sensitive peptide substrates. Thrombosis and haemostasis, 117(09), 1750-1760.