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Role of palmitoylation in Parkinson's disease and dopaminergic neurotransmission
Rebeca M.
Mejías-Estévez, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Physiology,
University of Seville
Movement Disorders Unit,
Biomedicine of Seville
Spain 🇪🇸
Biography: Rebeca Mejías is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Seville and a member of the Movement Disorders Unit at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, Spain. Dr. Mejías' career has focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases. She has studied the pathophysiological causes of Parkinson's disease (PD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Her work has contributed significantly to understanding the role of oxidative stress and the PD-related gene LRRK2 in PD. Additionally, she has helped characterize several autism-associated mutations in glutamate receptor-interacting proteins (GRIPs), advancing the understanding of the genetic basis of social deficits in ASD.
More recently, Dr. Mejías has been investigating the role of protein palmitoylation (PP) in PD and its impact on dopamine metabolism. She has established a collaborative network in the fields of PP, iPSCs, single-cell transcriptomics, and proteomics to uncover how PP affects dopaminergic disorders, including PD. Her laboratory is also part of a COST Action focused on IMMUnity and Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, she served as a guest editor for "Frontiers in Physiology" and is currently an editor for "Brain Science". She is mentoring two Ph.D. students and has been awarded a research grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science, as well as several grants from the University of Seville. Since 2015, Dr. Mejías has been actively engaged in science outreach activities, receiving the Science Outreach Award from the Spanish Society of Physiology in 2018. Her research has resulted in 27 publications and over 1,000 citations.
Selected Publications
Jakub Wlodarczyk J, Bhattacharyya R, Dore K, Ho GPH, Martin DDO, Mejías R, Karin Hochrainer K. Altered Protein Palmitoylation as Disease Mechanism in Neurodegenerative Disorders. Journal of Neurosience (JN-SY-1225-24R1), 2024, in press.
Saponjic J, Mejías R, Nikolovski N, Dragic M, Canak A, Papoutsopoulou S, Gürsoy-Özdemir Y, Fladmark KE, Ntavaroukas P, Bayar Muluk N, Zeljkovic Jovanovic M, Fontán-Lozano Á, Comi C, Marino F. Experimental Models to Study Immune Dysfunction in the Pathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease. Int J Mol Sci, 14;25(8):4330, 2024.
Editorial: Protein lipidation in health and disease. Editors: Fuller W, Mejías R. Frontiers in Physiology, 14:1317031, 2023.
Koropouli E, Wang Q, Mejías R, Hand R, Wang T, Ginty DD, Kolodkin AL. Palmitoylation regulates neuropilin-2 localization and function in cortical neurons and conveys specificity to semaphorin signaling via palmitoyl acyltransferases. Elife 12:e83217, 2023.
Cervilla-Martínez JF, Rodríguez-Gotor JJ, Wypijewski KJ, Fontán-Lozano Á, Wang T, Santamaría E, Fuller W, Mejías, R. Altered Cortical Palmitoylation Induces Widespread Molecular Disturbances in Parkinson’s Disease. Int J Mol Sci 23, 14018, 2022.
Mejias R, Adamczyk A, Niwa M, Krasnova IN, Rodriguez-Gotor JJ, Thomas GM, Han M, Huganir RL, Wang T. ZDHHC15-deficient Mice Show Increased Extracellular Dopamine in Striatum and Enhanced Novelty-induced Locomotion and Sensitivity to Amphetamine. Molecular Psychiatry 11:65, 2021.
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