Natural Sciences and Mathematics Faculty, Zagreb University, 1992-1998, B.Sc., Molecular Biology

Natural Sciences and Mathematics Faculty Graduate School, Zagreb University, 2000-2006., Ph.D., Biology

Third prize, National competition for guitar students, Velika Gorica, Croatia, 1986

Student Scholarship to top students, 1998-1992

Certificate of Appreciation to top students, V Gymnasium Zagreb, 1992

Certificate of Appreciation, Rudjer Bošković Open Days Organizing Comity, 2004

The Best Poster Award: Third Croatian Congress of Pharmacology, Zagreb, Septembar 18-21, 2001.

FEMS award to outstanding young scientists to participate on Scientific Meeting ‘Workshop on molecular pathogenesis of Marek’s disease and avian immunology’, Cyprus, October 2002

Graduate course: Functional genomics, Graduate School Molecular Biosciences, Dubrovnik

Biology Professor, ALU, Zagreb

Ester, Katja; Supek, Fran; Majsec, Kristina; Marjanović, Marko; Lembo, David; Donalisio, Manuela; Šmuc, Tomislav;  Jarak, Ivana; Kraminski-Zamola, Grace; Kralj, Marijeta.  Putative mechanisms of antitumor activity of cyano-substituted heteroaryles in HeLa cells. Investigational New Drugs. 2012 Apr;30(2):450-67

Ester, Katja; Hranjec, Marijana; Piantanida, Ivo; Caleta,  Irena; Jarak, Ivana; Pavelić, Krešimir; Kralj, Marijeta;  Karminski-Zamola, Grace.
Novel Derivatives of Pyridyl-Benzo(b)thiophene-2-carboxamides  and Benzo(b)thieno(2,3-c)naphthyridin-2-ones: Minor Structural  Variations Provoke Major Differences of Antitumor Action Mechanisms. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 52 (2009), 8; 2482-2492.

Books and book chapters

Book chapters

• Ragland, W., Savić, V., Novak, R. & Ester, K. (2003) Abundance of ChIFN-gamma and ChIFN-alpha an Blood of Broiler Chickens During an Outbreak of Chicken Infectious Anaemia. U: van den Berg & Thierry (ur.) Immunosuppressive viral diseases in poultry. Luxembourg, European Communities, str. 126-127.

• Novak, R., Ester, K., Savić, V. & Ragland, W. (2002) Immune status assessment by abundance of interferon alpha and gamma mRNA in chicken blood following antigenic challenge with inactivated Newcastle disease virus. U: van den Berg, T., Eterradossi, N., de Wit, S., Vainio, O. & Le Gros, F. (ur.) Economic Impact Assessment of the Immunosuppressive Viral Diseases in Poultry. Luxembourg, European Communities, str. 84-88.

Journal articles

Scientific and review papers

• Matovina, M., Lemmens, S., Kralj, M. & Ester, K. (2021) Polyethylenimine as a gene delivery tool in triple-negative breast cancer cell line and breast cancer stem cell model. Periodicum biologorum, 123 (3-4), 65-70 doi:10.18054/pb.v123i3-4.10472.

  doihrcak.srce.hrdoi.org

• Ester, K. & Ragland, W. (2020) Chicken anaemia virus impairs nitric oxide production in HD11 chicken macrophages. Slovenian veterinary research, 57 (4), 179-186.

  www.slovetres.sifulir.irb.hr

• Schratter, G., Scheruebel, S., Langthaler, S., Ester, K., Pelzmann, B., Ghaffari-Tabrizi-Wizsy, N., Rezania, S., Gorischek, A., Platzer, D., Zorn- Pauly, K., Ahammer, H., Prokesch, A., Stanzer, S., Devaney, T., Schmidt, K., Jahn, S., Prassl, R., Bauernhofer Thomas & Schreibmayer, W. (2019) GIRK1 triggers multiple cancer-related pathways in the benign mammary epithelial cell line MCF10A. Scientific reports, 9, 19277, 18 doi:10.1038/s41598-019-55683-w.

  doi

• Sambol, M., Ester, K., Landgraf, S., Mihaljević, B., Cindrić, M., Kralj, M. & Basarić, N. (2019) Competing photochemical reactions of bis-naphthols and their photoinduced antiproliferative activity. Photochemical & photobiological sciences, 18 (5), 1197-1211 doi:10.1039/c8pp00532j.

  doi

• Sambol, M., Ester, K., Husak, A., Škalamera, Đ., Piantanida, I., Kralj, M. & Basarić, N. (2019) Bifunctional Phenol Quinone Methide Precursors: Synthesis and Biological Activity. Croatica chemica acta, 92 (1), 29-41 doi:10.5562/cca3455.

  doidoi.orghrcak.srce.hrfulir.irb.hr

• Guberović, I., Marjanović, M., Mioč, M., Ester, K., Martin-Kleiner, I., Šumanovac Ramljak, T., Mlinarić-Majerski, K. & Kralj, M. (2018) Crown ethers reverse P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance in cancer cells. Scientific Reports, 8 (1), 14467, 14 doi:10.1038/s41598-018-32770-y.

  doiwww.nature.comfulir.irb.hr

• Levatić, J., Pavić, K., Perković, I., Uzelac, L., Ester, K., Kralj, M., Kaiser, M., Rottmann, M., Supek, F. & Zorc, B. (2018) Machine learning prioritizes synthesis of primaquine ureidoamides with high antimalarial activity and attenuated cytotoxicity. European journal of medicinal chemistry, 146, 651-667 doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.01.062.

  doi

• Knežević Teofilović, N., Bihi, M., Radić Stojković, M., Tumir, L., Ester, K., Kralj, M., Majhen, D., Oršolić, N., Lepur, A., Vrbanec, D., Markotić, A., Dembić, Z., Weber, A., Piantanida, I., Vugrek, O., Diken, M. & Knežević, J. (2017) 1-ethyl-3-(6-methylphenanthridine-8-il) urea modulates TLR3/9 activation and induces selective pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in vitro. Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters, 27 (7), 1530-1537 doi:10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.02.048.

  doi

• Pavić, K., Perković, I., Gilja, P., Kozlina, F., Ester, K., Kralj, M., Schols, D., Hadjipavlou- Litina, D., Pontiki, E. & Zorc, B. (2016) Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel primaquine-cinnamic acid conjugates of the amide and acylsemicarbazide type. Molecules, 21 (12), 1629, 24 doi:10.3390/molecules21121629.

  doiwww.mdpi.comfulir.irb.hrdoi.org

• Perković, I., Antunović, M., Marijanović, I., Pavić, K., Ester, K., Kralj, M., Vlainić, J., Kosalec, I., Schols, D., Hadjipavlou-Litina, D., Pontiki, E. & Zorc, B. (2016) Novel urea and bis-urea primaquine derivatives with hydroxyphenyl and halogenphenyl substituents: synthesis and biological evaluation. European journal of medicinal chemistry, 124, 622-636 doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.08.021.

  doi

• Sović, I., Viskić, M., Bertoša, B., Ester, K., Kralj, M., Hranjec, M. & Karminski-Zamola, G. (2015) Exploring antiproliferative activity of heteroaromatic amides and their fused derivatives using 3D-QSAR, synthesis and biological tests. Monatshefte für Chemie, 146 (9), 1503-1517 doi:10.1007/s00706-015-1478-8.

  doi

• Racane, L., Stojković, R., Tralić- Kulenović, V., Cerić, H., Đaković, M., Ester, K., Mišir Krpan, A. & Radić Stojković, M. (2014) Interactions with polynucleotides and antitumor activity of amidino and imidazolinyl substituted 2-phenylbenzothiazole mesylates. European journal of medicinal chemistry, 86, 406-419 doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2014.08.072.

  doi

• Perin, N., Nhili, R., Ester, K., Laine, W., Karminski-Zamola, G., Kralj, M., David-Cordonnier, M. & Hranjec, M. (2014) Synthesis, antiproliferative activity and DNA binding properties of novel 5-aminobenzimidazo[1,2-a]quinoline-6-carbonitriles. European journal of medicinal chemistry, 80, 218-227 doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2014.04.049.

  doi

• Ester, K., Supek, F., Majsec, K., Marjanović, M., Lembo, D., Donalisio, M., Šmuc, T., Jarak, I., Karminski-Zamola, G. & Kralj, M. (2012) Putative mechanisms of antitumor activity of cyano-substituted heteroaryles in HeLa cells. Investigational new drugs, 30 (2), 450-467 doi:10.1007/s10637-010-9571-7.

  doi

• Šimunović, M., Perković, I., Zorc, B., Ester, K., Kralj, M., Hadjipavlou-Litina, D. & Pontiki, E. (2009) Urea and carbamate derivatives of primaquine: Synthesis, cytostatic and antioxidant activities. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 17 (15), 5605-5613 doi:10.1016/j.bmc.2009.06.030.

  doi

• Ester, K., Ćurković-Perica, M. & Kralj Marijeta (2009) The phytohormone auxin induces G1 cell cycle arrest of human tumor cells. Planta medica, 75 (13), 1423-1426 doi:10.1055/s-0029-1185805.

  doi

• Ester, K., Hranjec, M., Piantanida, I., Ćaleta, I., Ivana, J., Pavelić, K., Kralj, M. & Karminski-Zamola, G. (2009) Novel derivatives of pyridylbenzo[b]thiophene-2-carboxamides and benzo[b]thieno[2,3-c]naphthyridin-2-ones: minor structural variations provoke major differences of antitumor action mechanisms. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 52 (8), 2482-2492 doi:10.1021/jm801573v.

  doi

• Džimbeg, G., Zorc, B., Kralj, M., Ester, K., Pavelić, K., Andrei, G., Snoeck, R., Balzarini, J., De Clercq, E. & Mintas, M. (2008) The novel primaquine derivatives of N-alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl urea: Synthesis, cytostatic and antiviral activity evaluations. European journal of medicinal chemistry, 43 (6), 1180-1187 doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2007.09.001.

  doi

• Starčević, K., Kralj, M., Ester, K., Sabol, I., Grce, M., Pavelić, K. & Karminski-Zamola, G. (2007) Synthesis, Antiviral and Antitumor Activity of 2- substituted-5-amidino-benzimidazoles. Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry, 15 (13), 4419-4426 doi:10.1016/j.bmc.2007.04.032.

  doifulir.irb.hr

• Starčević, K., Kralj, M., Ester, K. & Karminski-Zamola, G. (2007) Synthesis and cytostatic evaluation of pyridopyrimidobenzimidazole derivatives. Heterocycles, 71 (3), 647-656.

• Rajić, Z., Zorc, B., Raić-Malić, S., Ester, K., Kralj, M., Pavelić, K., Balzarini, J., De Clercq, E. & Mintas, M. (2006) Hydantoin derivatives of L- and D-amino acids: synthesis, antiviral and antitumoral activity evaluations. Molecules, 11 (11), 837-848 doi:10.3390/11110837.

  doiwww.mdpi.comfulir.irb.hr

• Starčević, K., Ćaleta, I., Cinčić, D., Kaitner, B., Kralj, M., Ester, K. & Karminski-Zamola, G. (2006) Synthesis, crystal structure determination and antiproliferative evaluation of novel benzazoyl benzamides. Heterocycles, 68 (11), 2285-2299.

• Quere, P., Rivas, C., Ester, K., Novak, R. & Ragland, W. (2005) Abundance of IFN-alpha and IFN gamma mRNA in blood of resistant and susceptible chickens infected with Marek's disease virus (MDV) or vaccinated with turkey herpesvirus ; and MDV inhibition of subsequent induction of IFN gene transcription. Archives of virology, 150 (3), 507-519.

• Crnek-Kunstelj, V., Ester, K. & Stipić, J. (2002) Role of retinoic acid and DNA methylation in differentiation of mammalian embryo in vitro.. Periodicum biologorum, 104 (1), 55-66.

• Ragland, W., Novak, R., El-Attrache, J., Savić, V. & Ester, K. (2002) Chicken Anemia Virus and Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Interfere with Transcription of Chicken IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma mRNA. Journal of interferon and cytokine research, 22 (4), 437-441.

• Ragland, W., Novak, R., Ester, K. & Savić, V. (2001) Evaluation of immune status in chickens. Periodicum biologorum, 103 (2), 115-118.

• Novak, R., Ester, K., Savić, V., Sekellick, M., Marcus, P., Lowenthal, J., Vainio, O. & Ragland, W. (2001) Immune status assessment by abundance of IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma mRNA in chicken blood.. Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research, 21 (8), 643-651.

Conference proceedings papers

Scientific conference proceedings papers

• Savić, V., Ragland, W., Novak, R. & Ester, K. (2001) Infectious bursal disease outbreak: experimental infection of broilers with evidence of significantly reduced body weight gain and interference with transcription for interferon. U: Kaleta, E. (ur.)Infectious Bursal Disease and Chicken Infectious Anaemia.

• Ragland, W., Novak, R., El-Attrache, J. & Ester, K. (2001) Chicken infectious anaemia virus interferes with transcription for chicken interferon alpha and gamma.. U: Kaleta, E. (ur.)Infectious Bursal Disease and Chicken Infectious Anaemia.

Theses

Doctoral dissertation

• Ester, K. (2006) 'Immune status assessment by abundance of interferon alpha and gamma mRNA in chicken blood', doktorska disertacija, Prirodoslovno-matematički fakultet, Zagreb.

Croatian Biological Society
EACR (European Association of Cancer Research)

FEMS

COST