Ana Fernández‐Villegas

α-Synuclein Facilitates Spontaneous Dopamine Release in a Calcium- and Phosphorylation-Dependent Manner

This study shows α-synuclein modulates spontaneous dopamine release via calcium and phosphorylation-dependent mechanisms, independent of full-fusion recycling.

Impairment of neuronal activity occurs at the early stages of the aggregation cascade of Ab1-42 and mutant Tau

The paper shows that Aβ and mutant Tau reduce neuronal activity in young C. elegans before amyloid aggregation, with muscle-expressed Aβ affecting neurons via retrograde signaling.

Discovery of TDP-43 aggregation inhibitors via a hybrid machine learning framework

The paper develops a hybrid machine learning framework to identify TDP-43 aggregation inhibitors, discovering two compounds effective in reducing aggregation in cell and model organism assays.

Deep learning for fluorescence lifetime predictions enables high-throughput in vivo imaging

FLIMngo, a deep learning model, enables fast and accurate fluorescence lifetime predictions from low-photon FLIM data, improving throughput and reducing phototoxicity for in vivo applications.

Brain cholesterol metabolites cause significant neurodegeneration in human iPSC-derived neurons

This study shows that 24S-HC and 27-HC, brain cholesterol metabolites, cause neuronal dysfunction in human iPSC-derived neurons by disrupting calcium signaling, organelle function, and alpha-synuclein accumulation.

Local ionic conditions modulate the aggregation propensity and influence the structural polymorphism of alpha-synuclein

This study investigates how Ca2+ and Na+ ions affect alpha-synuclein aggregation and fibril polymorphism, revealing their distinct roles in modulating conformational dynamics and structural outcomes.

Graphene microelectrode arrays, 4D structured illumination microscopy, and a machine learning-based spike sorting algorithm permit the analysis of ultrastructural neuronal changes during neuronal signalling in a model of Niemann-Pick disease type C

Machine learning-based spike sorting reveals how subneuronal concentrations of monomeric Tau cause a loss in excitatory postsynaptic currents in hippocampal neurons

The paper introduces PseudoSort, a machine learning algorithm for spike sorting, and applies it to MEA data from hippocampal neurons exposed to monomeric Tau, revealing its impact on neuronal activity.

α-synuclein fibril and synaptic vesicle interactions lead to vesicle destruction and increased uptake into neurons

This study investigates how monomeric and fibrillar alpha-synuclein interact with synaptic vesicles, showing fibrils disintegrate vesicles and increase neuronal uptake, potentially contributing to Parkinson's disease pathology.

Intra-mitochondrial proteostasis is directly coupled to alpha-synuclein and Amyloid β 1-42 pathology

This study shows that intra-mitochondrial proteostasis influences alpha-synuclein and Aβ42 aggregation, while mitochondrial stress factors like complex I inhibition do not affect these pathologies.