Marco ALVAREZ Ph.D. Associated Professor, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Andrés Bello.

Marco Antonio Alvarez Santana is a Biochemist from the Universidad Austral de Chile (1993, Valdivia). His thesis dealt with Synthesis of RNA of hypofisis in the fish Cyprinus carpio during acclimation. Between the years 1993-2000 he carried on his doctoral studies under Dr. Joseph Martial at the University of Liege in Belgium on “Molecular adaptations of TIMs to extreme temperatures”. In 1995 he recieved an special nomination for his pioneering work on the x ray crystallography of thermophilic enzymes on outer space, research that was part of the European Space Agency and NASA. In 1997 while finishing his doctoral studies, Dr. Alvarez was awarded a special price for the best thesis on a biotechnological relevant work. On the same year he takes a special course at the Pasteur Institute in Paris on the structure and functions of proteins.

RESEARCH: At present Dr. Alvarez carries on his research on the laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Universidad Andrés Bello. His work relates to the study of molecular factors involved in the process of acclimation  of the fish Cyprinus carpio.

ACADEMIC POSITIONS: Associate Professor, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Andrés Bello.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Alvarez, M. et al. (1998) Triose-phosphate isomerase of the psychrophilic bacterium Vibrio marinus. Kinetic and structural properties.  J. Biol. Chem. 273, 2199-2206.

Alvarez, M. et al. (1999) Role of the His12-Lys13 pair, present in thermophilic TIMs, in the adaptation to high temperature. J. Biol. Chem. 274, 19181-19187.

Alvarez, M. et al. (2001) Environmental reprogramming of the expression of protein kinase CK2_ subunit in fish. Mol. Cel. Biochem. 227, 107-112.

Alvarez, M. et al. (2003) An increased expression of nucleolin is associated with a physiological nucleolar segregation. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Com. 301, 152-158.