Acar

EDUCATION

Ph.D., 2013, Materials Science and Nanotechnology – Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

RESEARCH & PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

Our research efforts combine various interdisciplinary approaches to address the current limitations in clinical biomedical applications. To achieve this purpose, we use techniques to manipulate molecular-level interactions to design and synthesize materials with unique capabilities; for example:

• self-assembling nanoparticles for site-specific delivery platforms,
• the tracking of intracellular interactions using active cargo,
• and activated self-assembly strategies for disrupting malignant cells.

A key aspect of our research is thus to harness nanomedicine for clinical translational applications.

PUBLICATIONS

• Acar, H.;Ting, J.; Srivastava,S.; LaBelle, J.L.; Tirrell, M.; Molecular Engineering Solutions for Therapeutic Peptide Delivery, Chemical Society Reviews, (2017).
• Acar, H.; Samaeekia, R.; Schnorenberg, M.R.; Sasmal, D. K.; Tirrell, M. V.; LaBelle J.L.; Cathepsin-Mediated Cleavage of Peptides from Peptide Amphiphiles Leads to Enhanced Intracellular Peptide Accumulation; Bioconjugate Chemistry, (2017).
• Barrett, J.C.; Mellas, M.J.; Acar, H.; Peptides in immunoengineering, Book Title: Peptide Applications in Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Elsevier (2017).
• Acar, H.; Srivastava,S.; Chung, E. J.; Schnorenberg, M.R.; Barrett, J.C.; LaBelle, J.L.; Tirrell, M.; Self-Assembling Peptide-Based Building Blocks in Medical Applications; Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews; accepted (2016).
• Acar, H.; Banerjee, S.; Shi, H.; Jamshidi, R.; Hashemi, N.; Cho, M.; Montazami, R. Transient Biocompatible Polymeric Platforms for Long-Term Controlled Release of Therapeutic Proteins and Vaccines; Materials; 9(5), 321 (2016).
• Okyay, A.K.; Hanoglu, O.; Yuksel, M.; Acar, H.; Sulek, S.; Tekcan, B.; Agan, S.; Biyikli, N.; Guler, M.O.; Using nanogap in label-free impedance based electrical biosensors to overcome electrical double layer effect; Microsystem Technologies; 1-9 (2015).
• Acar, H.; Cinar, S.; Thunga, M.; Kessler, M.R.; Hashemi, N.; Montazami, R.; Study of physically transient insulating materials for transient and biocompatible electronics; Advanced Functional Materials; 24(26), 4135–4143 (2014).
• Acar, H.; Garifullin, R.; Aygun, L.E.; Okyay, A.K.; Guler, M.O.; Amyloid-like peptide nanofiber templated titania nanostructures as dye sensitized solar cell anodic materials; Journal of Materials Chemistry A; 1, 10979-84 (2013).
• Acar, H.; Karakışla, M.; Saçak, M.; Preparation and characterization of conductive polypyrrole/kaolinite composites; Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing; 16 845-50 (2013).
• Acar, H.; Karakışla, M.; Saçak, M.; Preparation of potassium persulfate-mediated conducting polypyrrole/polyacrylonitrile composite fibers: humidity and temperature-sensing properties; Journal of Applied Polymer Science; 125, 3977-85 (2012).
• Acar, H.; Genc, R.; Urel, M.; Erkal, T.S.; Dana, A.; Guler, M.O.; Self-assembled peptide nanofiber templated one-dimensional gold nanostructures exhibiting resistive switching; Langmuir; 28, 16347-54 (2012).
• Turker, B.; Guner, H.; Ayas, S.; Ekiz, O.O.; Acar, H.; Guler, M.O.; Dana, A.; Grating coupler integrated photodiodes for plasmon resonance based sensing; Lab on A Chip; 11, 282-7 (2011).
• Turker, B.; Guner, H.; Ayas, S.; Ekiz, O.O.; Acar, H.; Guler, M.O.; Dana, A.; Grating coupler integrated photodiodes for plasmon resonance based sensing in fluidic systems; Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) Conference; pp.1-2, 1-6 May (2011).
• Yildirim, A.; Acar, H.; Erkal, T.S.; Bayindir, M.; Guler, M.O.; Template-directed synthesis of silica nanotubes for explosive detection; ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces; 3, 4159-64 (2011).
• Acar, H.; Garifullin, R.; Guler, M.O.; Self-assembled template-directed synthesis of one-dimensional silica and titania nanostructures; Langmuir; 27, 1079-84 (2011).
• Toksoz, S.; Acar, H.; Guler, M.O.; Self-assembled one-dimensional soft nanostructures; Soft Matter; 6, 5839 (2010).

PATENTS

• Patent granted: “Biomimetic template directed synthesis of one-dimensional nanostructures”; Acar, H., Guler, M.O., Garifullin, R., Turkish Patent Institute, Patent No: 2010/06049.
• Nonprovisional patent application to USPTO: “Enzymatically Cleavable Peptide Amphiphiles"; Acar, H.; LaBelle, J.; Tirrell, M.; Reference Number UCHI 2601.