Griselda Velez-Aguilera, Postdoctoral Fellow.
Background: I am from Mexico where I obtained a B. S. in Biological and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), my Master and PhD degrees in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV-IPN). My PhD Thesis, under the supervision of Dr. Cisneros, focused on studying the nuclear trafficking of the transmembrane protein beta-dystroglycan (β-DG), implicated in muscular dystrophies. Interestingly, dysregulation of β-DG nuclear trafficking has physiological consequences on nuclear envelope organization. Since then, I became extremely interested in understanding the mechanisms involved in nuclear envelope dynamics during cell division in early embryogenesis. For this reason, in 2018, I joined the Pintard’s Lab, which is interested in studying the molecular mechanisms regulating Nuclear Envelope Breakdown (NEBD) and cell cycle progression during development of multicellular organisms.
My current work: I am interested in deciphering the role of the mitotic kinase PLK-1 during NEBD. Specifically, I am looking at the lamina depolimerization and in collaboration with Dr. Ossareh-Nazari, the disruption of the interaction between the lamina and chromatin binding proteins.
Publications:
10. Dissecting the Multiple Functions of the Polo-Like Kinase 1 in the C. elegans Zygote.
Velez-Aguilera G*, Ossareh-Nazari B*, Pintard L. (*co-first authors).
Methods Mol Biol. 2024;2740:63-88. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3557-5_4. PMID: 38393469.
9. Mechanisms of nuclear pore complex disassembly by the mitotic Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK-1) in C. elegans embryos.
Nkombo Nkoula S*, Velez-Aguilera G*, Ossareh-Nazari B, Van Hove L, Ayuso C, Legros V, Chevreux G, Thomas L, Seydoux G, Askjaer P, Pintard L. (*co-first authors).
Sci Adv. 2023 Jul 21;9(29):eadf7826. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adf7826. Epub 2023 Jul 19. PMID: 37467327.
8.Cortical microtubule pulling forces contribute to the union of the parental genomes in the C. elegans zygote.
Velez-Aguilera G, Ossareh-Nazari B, Van Hove L, Joly N, Pintard L
Elife. 2022 Mar 8;11:e75382. doi: 10.7554/eLife.75382. PMID: 35259092
7. Bora phosphorylation substitutes in trans for T-loop phosphorylation in Aurora A to promote mitotic entry.
Tavernier N, Thomas Y, Vigneron S, Maisonneuve P, Orlicky S, Mader P, Regmi SG, Van Hove L, Levinson NM, Gasmi-Seabrook G, Joly N, Poteau M, Velez-Aguilera G, Gavet O, Castro A, Dasso M, Lorca T, Sicheri F, Pintard L.
Nat Commun. 2021 Mar 26;12(1):1899. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21922-w. PMID: 33771996
6. PLK-1 promotes the merger of the parental genome into a single nucleus by triggering lamina disassembly.
Velez-Aguilera G, Nkombo Nkoula S, Ossareh-Nazari B, Link J, Paouneskou D, Van Hove L, Joly N, Tavernier N, Verbavatz JM, Jantsch V, Pintard L.
Elife. 2020 Oct 8;9:e59510. doi: 10.7554/eLife.59510. PMID: 33030429
5. Enhanced nuclear protein export in premature aging and rescue of the progeria phenotype by modulation of CRM1 activity.
Garcia-Aguirre I, Alamillo-Iniesta A, Rodriguez-Perez R, Vélez-Aguilera G, Amaro-Encarnación E, Jiménez-Gutiérrez E, Vásquez-Limeta A, Laredo-Cisneros MS, Morales-Lázaro SL, Tiburcio-Félix R, Ortega A, Magaña JJ, Winder SJ, Cisneros B.
Aging Cell. 2019 Oct;18(5):e13002. doi: 10.1111/acel.13002. PMID: 31305018
4. The intracellular domain of β-dystroglycan mediates the nucleolar stress response by suppressing UBF transcriptional activity.
Azuara-Medina PM, Sandoval-Duarte AM, Morales-Lázaro SL, Modragón-González R, Velez-Aguilera G, Gómez-López JD, Jiménez-Gutiérrez GE, Tiburcio-Félix R, Martínez-Vieyra I, Suárez-Sánchez R, Längst G, Magaña JJ, Winder SJ, Ortega A, Ramos Perlingeiro R, Jacobs LA, Cisneros B.
Cell Death Dis. 2019 Feb 27;10(3):196. doi: 10.1038/s41419-019-1454-z. PMID: 30814495
3. Control of nuclear beta-dystroglycan content is crucial for the maintenance of nuclear envelope integrity and function.
Velez-Aguilera G, Gomez-Lopez JD, Jimenez-Gutierrez GE, Vasquez-Limeta A, Laredo-Cisneros MS, Gomez P, Winder SJ, Cisneros B.
Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res. 2018 Feb;1865(2):406-420. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2017.11.013. PMID: 29175376
2. Retrograde trafficking of β-dystroglycan from the plasma membrane to the nucleus.
Gracida-Jiménez V, Mondragón-González R, Vélez-Aguilera G, Vásquez-Limeta A, Laredo-Cisneros MS, Gómez-López JD, Vaca L, Gourlay SC, Jacobs LA, Winder SJ, and Cisneros B.
Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 29;7(1):9906. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-09972-x. PMID: 28852008.
1. Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene product dystrophin Dp71d is dependent on the importin alpha/beta and CRM1 nuclear transporters and microtubule motor dynein.
Suarez-Sanchez R, Aguilar A, Wagstaff KM, Vélez G, Azuara-Medina P, Gomez P, Vasquez-Limeta A, Hernandez-Hernandez O, Lieu K, Jans DA, Cisneros B.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2014 May;1843(5):985-1001. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.01.027.
griselda.velezaguilera@ijm.fr