ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target

Venhar Çinar; Nesrin Delibaşi Doğan

ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains one of the most aggressive subtypes of breast cancer due to the absence of hormone receptors and HER2 expression, making it refractory to many targeted therapies. Consequently, recent studies have focused on the autophagy pathway as a potential therapeutic avenue, particularly investigating the role of Unc-51 Like Autophagy Activating Kinase 1 (ULK1), a key initiator of autophagy. In the present study, we investigated the function of ULK1 in highly aggressive and metastatic breast cancer cells. We demonstrated that the knockdown of the autophagy-related ULK1 gene significantly suppressed cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion in the metastatic MDA-MB-231 and BT-549 cell lines, both of which exhibit high basal-autophagy levels. In conclusion, our study suggests that ULK1 promotes cell proliferation, survival, migration, and invasion, thereby contributing to the tumor growth and progression of highly aggressive and metastatic breast cancer cells that rely on high basal autophagy. These findings indicate that targeting ULK1 may represent a promising therapeutic strategy in breast cancer.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

This study was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council –TÜBİTAK- research grant

Project Number

214S204

Ethical Statement

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Thanks

The Scientific and Technological Research Council –TÜBİTAK-

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Cancer Biology, Gene Expression, Molecular Genetics

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Venhar Çinar ^*
0000-0003-1544-8994
Türkiye

Nesrin Delibaşi Doğan
0000-0002-8879-1112
Türkiye

Publication Date

December 30, 2025

Submission Date

November 11, 2025

Acceptance Date

December 24, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Number: 1

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA57GA74TE

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Çinar, V., & Delibaşi Doğan, N. (2025). ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target. Erciyes BioGenome, 1, 31-41. https://izlik.org/JA57GA74TE

AMA

1.Çinar V, Delibaşi Doğan N. ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target. Erciyes BioGenome. 2025;(1):31-41. https://izlik.org/JA57GA74TE

Chicago

Çinar, Venhar, and Nesrin Delibaşi Doğan. 2025. “ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target”. Erciyes BioGenome, no. 1: 31-41. https://izlik.org/JA57GA74TE.

EndNote

Çinar V, Delibaşi Doğan N (December 1, 2025) ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target. Erciyes BioGenome 1 31–41.

IEEE

[1]V. Çinar and N. Delibaşi Doğan, “ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target”, Erciyes BioGenome, no. 1, pp. 31–41, Dec. 2025, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA57GA74TE

ISNAD

Çinar, Venhar - Delibaşi Doğan, Nesrin. “ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target”. Erciyes BioGenome. 1 (December 1, 2025): 31-41. https://izlik.org/JA57GA74TE.

JAMA

1.Çinar V, Delibaşi Doğan N. ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target. Erciyes BioGenome. 2025;:31–41.

MLA

Çinar, Venhar, and Nesrin Delibaşi Doğan. “ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target”. Erciyes BioGenome, no. 1, Dec. 2025, pp. 31-41, https://izlik.org/JA57GA74TE.

Vancouver

1.Venhar Çinar, Nesrin Delibaşi Doğan. ULK1 Promotes the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Novel Therapeutic Target. Erciyes BioGenome [Internet]. 2025 Dec. 1;(1):31-4. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA57GA74TE