Yuksel Agca, DVM, MS, PhD

Associate Professor

  • D.V.M., Ankara University, Turkey
  • M.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Ph.D., Purdue University-West Lafayette
  • Post-doctoral fellow, Indiana University School of Medicine
  • Co-I, Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center (MMRRC)
  • Co-I, Rat Resource and Research Center (RRRC)
Yuksel Agca

Building Address: S122 Discovery Drive
Phone Number: 884 0311
Email: agcay@missouri.edu

RESEARCH INTERESTS

There are challenges for making dramatic research advances in the areas of biomedical research.  Thus, it is imperative to have optimal animal models to investigate cellular, molecular and structural basis of human disorders and to apply this enhanced understanding to the development of a new generation of reproductive other therapeutic approaches. We have engaged in the studies involving several diverse research areas including reproductive biology, transgenic rodent model, molecular reproduction, neurodegenerations, and bone pathology with a team of collaborators. We value basic research and it’s translation into practical applications in the biomedical fields. In addition, Interactions involving cross-disciplinary knowledge and technology is crucial for the development and public acceptance of new tools and methodologies that will ultimately serve the reproductive well-being of both humans and animals as well as human general medicine. Our research includes cellular, biophysical, and molecular aspects of cryobiology and biology of mammalian germplasm. We perform basic research and subsequently translate the gained knowledge toward development of reproductive technologies as they relate to gamete, embryo, and gonadal tissue biotechnologies including genome cryobanking, human diseases model development, and gene transfer. We are also interested in genome resource cryobanking of scientifically important mutant rodent models for human diseases.  One of the research interests that we currently pursuing is the use of laboratory rats as models to develop reproductive therapy strategies for women via ovarian tissue cryopreservation and subsequent auto-transplantation for the prevention of infertility and bone loss. In addition, our ongoing research effort is directed to investigate diet and menopause induced cognitive, brain molecular, cellular and pathologic changes using transgenic rat models of Alzheimer’s disease that we developed in our laboratory.

TEACHING

Laboratory rodent reproduction

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS since 2015 (Google Scholar Citations):

  1. Lining H, Ibrahim J, Alkorjia O, Agca C, Oksman A, Agca Y, Goldberg DE, Benson JD, Almasri M (2023). An impedance-based microfluidic sensor for evaluation of individual red blood cell solute permeability. Analytica Chimica Acta 1267: 341226 . DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.341226 d
  2. Gerb SA, Agca C, Stevey L, Agca Y (2022). The effect of CO 2 euthanasia on C57BL/6J mouse sperm post-thaw motility characteristics, in-vitro fertilization and embryonic developmental competence. Journal of American Association for Laboratory Animal Sci . doi: 10.30802/AALAS-JAALAS-22-000012
  3. MacKenzie JL, Ivanova N, Nell HJ, Giordano CR, Terlecky SR, Agca C, Agca Y, Paul A. Walton, Whitehead SN, Cechetto DF (2022). Microglial inflammation and cognitive dysfunction in co-morbid rat models of striatal ischemic stroke and Alzheimer’s disease: effects of antioxidant catalase-SKL on behavioral and cellular pathology. Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.01.026 .
  4. Agca Y and Agca C (2021). Cryopreservation and transplantation of laboratory mouse and rat ovarian tissues for genome banking and biomedical research . Methods in Molecular Biology , Springer Nature. In “Cryopreservation and freeze-drying protocols’ 2180:469-483. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0783-1_22.
  5. Agca Y and Agca C(2021). Cryopreservation of laboratory mouse sperm for genome banking . Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer Nature. In “Cryopreservation and freeze-drying protocols’ 2180: 401-412. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0783-1_17.
  6. Levit A, Gibson A, Hough O, Jung Y, Agca Y, Agca C, Hachinski V, Allman B, Whitehead S (2021). Precocious white matter inflammation and behavioural inflexibility precede learning and memory impairment in the TgAPP21 rat model of Alzheimer’s disease. Molecular Neurobiology. DOI: 10.1007/s12035-021-02476.
  7. Feng ZC, Hu H, Agca Y (2020). The role of mercury in intra cytoplasmic sperm injection. Journal of Vibration Testing and System Dynamics 4: 279-286.
  8. Levit A, Cheng S, Hough O, Agca Y, Agca C, Hachinski V, Whitehead S (2020). Hypertension and pathogenic hAPP independently induce white matter astrocytosis and cognitive impairment in the rat. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. DOI : 10.3389/fnagi.2020.00082.
  9. Agca Y (2020). Assisted Reproductive Technologies & Genetic Engineering in Rats. The Laboratory Rats, 3rd edition Wilson R, Suckow MA, Hankenson C, Foley P, Elsevier Pp. 181-213.
  10. Ivanova N, Liu Q, Agca C, Agca Y, Noble EG, Whitehead SN, Cechetto DF (2020). White matter inflammation and cognitive function in a co-morbid metabolic syndrome and prodromal Alzheimer’s disease rat model. J Neuroinflammation . 21;17:29. DOI: 10.1186/s12974-020-1698-7.
  11. Agca C, Klakotskaia D, Schachtman TR , Stopa E, Agca Y (2020). Ovariectomy influences cognition and Alzheimer’s disease markers in transgenic rat model. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 73: 529-541 DOI: 10.3233/JAD-190935.
  12. Wuri L, Agca C, Agca Y (2020). Morphometric, subcellular, in-vitro fertilization and embryonic developmental assessment of mouse oocytes produced by Anti-Inhibin serum or PMSG superovulation. J. Reproduction Fertility & Development DOI: 10.1071/RD19131.
  13. Wuri L, Agca C, Agca Y (2019). Euthanasia via CO 2 inhalation causes premature cortical granule exocytosis in mouse oocytes and influences in-vitro fertilization and embryo development. Mol. Reprod. Dev. DOI : 10.1002/mrd.23167.
  14. Agca Y (2019). In vitro culture of rat pre-implantation embryos. Methods in Molecular Biology , Springer Nature. In Comparative Embryo Culture 2 006:33-43. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9566.
  15. Levit A , Regis AM , Gibson A , Hough OH , Maheshwari S , Agca Y , Agca C , Hachinski V , Allman BL , Whitehead SN . (2019). Impaired behavioural flexibility related to white matter microgliosis in the TgAPP21 rat model of Alzheimer disease. Brain Behav. Immun . DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2019.02.
  16. Weishaupt N, Liu Q, Shin S, Agca Y, Agca C, Hachinski V, Whitehead S (2018). APP21 transgenic rats develop age-dependent cognitive impairment and microglia accumulation within white matter tracts. Journal of Neuroinflammation https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-018-1273.
  17. Lining H, Benson JD, Agca C, Agca Y, Almasri M (2018). Lab on chip microfluidics sensor for individual red blood cell water permeability measurements. Proceedings of the International Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems 44-47. DOI : 10.1109/NEMS.2018.8557031 .
  18. Ince S, Erdogan M, Demirel H, Agca Y, Dal G, Uguz C (2018). Boron enhances early embryonic gene expressions and improves fetal development of rats. J. of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology 50: 34-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2018.06.002 .
  19. Klakotskaia D, Agca C, Richardson RA, Schachtman TR , Stopa E, Agca Y (2018). Memory deficiency, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and amyloid-β plaques in APP+PS1 double transgenic rat model of Alzheimer’s disease. Plos one . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195469 .
  20. Caughlin S, Maheshwari S, Agca Y, Agca C, Yeung K, Cechetto D, Whitehead S. (2018). Membrane-lipid homeostasis in a prodromal rat model of AD: Characteristic shifts in ganglioside abundance during aging detected using MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry. Biochim Biophys Acta . DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2018.03.011.