Nerea Muniozguren, PhD
she/her/hers
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education
- Ph.D. Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology University of California, Santa Barbara, US.
- M.S. Molecular Biology and Biomedicine University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and Biophysics Unit (CSIC), Spain, EU.
- B.S Biochemistry and Molecular Biology University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)University of the Basque Country, Spain, EU.
Research Interests
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Biswa Ramani Lab at UCSF studying molecular mechanisms of ALS. I previously worked on the Integrated Stress Response (ISR) and on pathways regulating protein and RNA homeostasis. My current research focuses on how dysregulation of RNA-binding proteins, stress granule dynamics, and proteostasis contributes to neurodegeneration.
Publications
The integrated stress response engages a cell-autonomous, ligand-independent, DR5-driven apoptosis switch. Muniozguren Nerea L, Zappa Francesca, Conrad Julia and Acosta-Alvear Diego. Cell Death & Disease, 16,101, 15 Feb. 2025.
The Integrated Stress Response Induces a Common Cell-Autonomous Death Receptor 5-Dependent Apoptosis Switch. Muniozguren Nerea L, Zappa Francesca, and Acosta-Alvear Diego. BioRxiv, 4 July 2022.
Signaling by the Integrated Stress Response Kinase PKR Is Fine-Tuned by Dynamic Clustering. Zappa Francesca, Muniozguren Nerea L, Maxwell Z. Wilson, Costello S. Michael, Ponce-Rojas Jose Carlos, and Acosta-Alvear Diego. Journal of Cell Biology, vol. 221, no. 7, 2022, pp. e202111100.
Stress-Response Transcription Factors Msn2 and Msn4 Couple TORC2-Ypk1 Signaling and Mitochondrial Respiration to ATG8 Gene Expression and Autophagy. Vlahakis Ariadne, Muniozguren Nerea L, and Powers Ted. Autophagy, vol. 13, no. 11, 2017, pp. 1804-1812.
Mitochondrial Respiration Links TOR Complex 2 Signaling to Calcium Regulation and Autophagy. Vlahakis Ariadne, Muniozguren Nerea L, and Powers Ted. Autophagy, vol. 13, no. 7, 2017, pp. 1256-1257.
Calcium Channel Regulator Mid1 Links TORC2-Mediated Changes in Mitochondrial Respiration to Autophagy. Vlahakis Ariadne, Muniozguren Nerea L, and Powers Ted. Journal of Cell Biology, vol. 215, no. 6, 2016, pp. 779-788, doi:10.1083/jcb.201603067.
Target of Rapamycin Signaling Mediates Vacuolar Fission Caused by Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in S. cerevisiae. Stauffer, B., and Ted Powers. Molecular Biology of the Cell, vol. 26, no. 13, 2015, pp. 2308-2320, doi:10.1091/mbc.E14-12-1579. (acknowledgment).
Honors and Awards
- 2019 Outstanding Student Award, MCDB-UCSB.
- 2019 Best Poster Award, Southern California RNA Meeting.
- 2017-18 Charles A. Storke Graduate Fellowship, MCDB-UCSB.
- 2018 Doreen J. Putrah Cancer Research Foundation Conference Fellowship, MCDB-UCSB.
- 2017 International Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship, MCDB-UCSB.
- 2012 Master's Student Scholarship, The Basque Government.
- 2012 Master's Student Scholarship, The University of the Basque Country.
Other Interests
Exploring new places, traveling, spending time with family and friends, and a good glass of beer and wine.