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Alejandra
ALVAREZ PhD. Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Catholic University of Chile.
SHORT PROFILE: Dr Alejandra Alvarez began undergraduate studies
in Biochemistry at the Faculty
of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de
Chile. In 1997, she obtains the PhD degree in Biological
Sciences with mention in Cell and Molecular Biology. The topic
of her doctoral work was the characterization of the acetylcholinesterase
promoting effect on the aggregation of amyloid –b-peptide of the Alzheimer disease. In
1997, she obtained a post-doctoral fellowship intended to
study the Genesis of the paried helical filaments (PHFs) in
Alzheimer disease at the Faculty of Sciences, University of
Chile. In 1998 she receives the award
to “Best Ph.D Thesis” to grant by the “Chilean Foundation
for Cellular Biology” and in March of 2000 she visited
for a period of tree mouths the laboratory of Dr. Kenneth
Kosik in the Department of Neurology of Harvard Medical School
and Center for Neurological Diseases, Boston, USA. In 2002 she was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of
Biological Sciences of the Catholic University of Chile. Presently
her research is
related to understand the role of the signal transduction
pathways associated to c-Abl tyrosine kinase in the Neurodegenerative
diseases.
ACADEMIC
POSITIONS: Assistant Professor, Faculty
of Biological Sciences, Department of
Cell and Molecular Biology, Catholic University of Chile
Undergraduate teaching responsibilities in Cell and Molecular
Biology.
PUBLICATIONS:
20 original articles, 2 chapters in books.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Inestrosa,
N.C., Alvarez, A.,. Pérez, C.A., Moreno, R.D.,
Vicente, M., Linker, C., Casanueva, O.I., Soto, C. and Garrido,
J. (1996). Acetylcholinesterase accelerates assembly of amyloid-b-peptides
into Alzheimer’s fibrils: Possible role of the peripheral
site of the enzyme. Neuron, 16 :
881-891.
Alvarez
A., Opazo, C., Alarcón, R., Garrido, J. and Inestrosa, N.C.
(1997). Acetylcholinesterase promotes the aggregation of amyloid-b-peptide
fragments by forming a complex with the growing fibrils.
J. Mol. Biol., 272 : 348-361.
Alvarez,
A., Alarcón, R., Opazo, C., Campos, E.O., Muñoz, F.J.,
Dajas, F., Gentry, M.K., Doctor, B.P., De Mello, F.G. and
Inestrosa, N.C. (1998). Stable complexes involving
acetylcholinesterase and amyloid-b-peptide
change the biochemical properties of the enzyme and increase
the neurotoxicity of Alzheimer’s fibrils. J. Neurosci.,
18 : 3213-3223.
Alvarez,
A., Toro, R., Caceres, A. and Maccioni, R.B. (1999) Inhibition
of tau phosphorylating protein kinase cdk5 prevents b-amyloid-induced
neuronal death. FEBS
Lett.,
459 : 421-6
Alvarez
A, Munoz JP, Maccioni RB. (2001)
A Cdk5-p35 stable complex is involved in the beta-amyloid-induced
deregulation of Cdk5 activity in hippocampal neurons. Exp.
Cell Res. 264:266-274.
De
Ferrari G.V., Chacón M.A, Barría M.I., Garrido J.L., Godoy
J.A., Olivares G.H., Reyes A.E., Alvarez A., Bronfman
M. and Inestrosa N.C. (2003)
Activation of Wnt signaling rescue neurodegeneration and behavioral
impairments induced by b-amyloid fibrils. |
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