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Juan Reyes

Principal Research Engineer

About me

I received my PhD in Neuroscience from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine where I focused on the post-translational modifications of Tau and their role in self-aggregation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurogenerative conditions known as non-AD tauopathies.

Given my keen interest in neuroscience and the spreading of hallmark pathology associated with neurodegeneration, I pursued a post-doctoral position at Lund University (Sweden) and then at the Swiss Institute of technology (EPFL), where I focused on the mechanisms of alpha-synuclein transmission in cellular and animal models of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), a related synucleinopathy.

Currently, I am a Senior Research Fellow focusing on the role of cellular connectivity and the spreading of hallmark pathology associated with PD and AD. Our recent work identified a novel molecular mechanism involving the gap junction proteins, the connexins (Cx), in the transmission of alpha-synuclein pathology both in neurons and oligodendrocytes, cell types vulnerable to alpha-synuclein accumulation in PD and MSA, respectively, (Reyes et al., Acta Neuropathologica, 2019).

It is now widely established that aside from the brain, alpha-synuclein accumulation also appears in multiple peripheral tissues in PD. Consistent with these findings, we recently identified alpha-synuclein accumulation in PD and observed a time dependent accumulation of alpha-synuclein pathology in the liver in multiple animal models of PD and MSA, suggesting a potential liver involvement in the clearance of PD associated pathology (Reyes et al., Acta Neuropathologica Comm. 2021).

News

Publications

  • Carla Azevedo, Gabriel Teku, Yuriy Pomeshchik, Juan F. Reyes, Margarita Chumarina, Kaspar Russ, Ekaterina Svachenko, Anna Hammarberg, Nuno Jorge Lamas, Anna Collin, Stefano Goldwurm, Gunnar K. Gouras, Oxana Klementieva, Martin Hallbeck, Ricardo Taipa, Mauno Vihinen, Laurent Roybon1,#,*Transcriptomic analysis of Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy patient-derived oligodendrocytes reveals changes in maturation and immune reactive properties linked to alpha-synuclein. PNAS. 119 (12) 2023
  • Reyes J.F., S. Ermark-Lewen S., Perdiki M., Klingstedt T., Hoffmann A., Nilsson P., Winkler J., Alafuzoff I., Ingelsson M. and Hallbeck M. Accumulation of brain-derived alpha-synuclein in hepatocytes - a potential feature in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. Acta Neuropathologica Comm. 2021.
  • Serge Moudio, Fredrik Rodin, Nazira Albargothy, , Urban Karlsson, Juan F. Reyes, and Martin Hallbeck1, Modeling α-Synuclein in organotypic slice cultures, the ESOS model. Front Neurol.Feb 16; 13:826102. 2022
  • Juan F. Reyes1*, Christopher Sackmann1, Alana Hoffman2, Per Sveningsson3, Jüergen Winkler2, Martin Ingelsson4, Martin Hallbeck1. Direct binding of α-syn oligomers to Cx32 facilitates protein uptake and transfer in neurons and oligodendrocytes. Acta Neuropathologica. 2019.
  • Juan F. Reyes1*, Anna Ansell-Schultz*, My Samuelsson1 and Martin Hallbeck. Reduced retromer function decreases oAβ recycling resulting in protein accumulation in a co-culture model system. Molecular and cellular Neuroscience, 93:18-26, 2018
  • Zalis C. Marina, Reyes Juan F., Augustsson Per, Holmqvist Staffan, Roybon Laurent, Laurel Thomas, Dierborg Tomas. Label-free concentration of viable neurons, hESC and cancer cells by means of Acoustophoresis. Ingr Biol., 8, (3), 332–340, 2016
  • Boza-Serrano A, Reyes JF, Rey NL, Leffler H, Bousset L, Nilsson U, Brundin P, Venero J, Burguillos M, Deierborg T. The role of Galectin-3 in alpha-synuclein-induced microglial activation. Acta Neuropathol commun. Nov 12;2(1):156, 2014
  • Juan F Reyes, Tomas Olsson, Jennifer Lamberts, Michael Devine, Tilo Kunath and Patrik Brundin: A Cellular Model System to Monitor alpha-synuclein Cell-to-Cell Transfer. Neurobiology of disease. July 16, 2014
  • Juan F Reyes, Nolwen L Rey, Luc Bousset, Ronald Melki, Patrik Brundin*, Elodie Angot*. Alpha-synuclein transfer from neurons to oligodendrocytes. Glia. Mar;62(3):387-98. 2014
  • Juan F Reyes, Nolwen L Rey and Elodie Angot. Transmission of tau pathology induced by tau pre-formed filaments. The Journal of Neuroscience. Apr 17;33(16):6707-8. 2013
  • Juan F. Reyes*, Christopher J.R. Dunning*, Jennifer A. Steiner, Patrik Brundin. Can Parkinson’s Disease Pathology be Propagated from One Neuron to Another? Progress in neurobiology, 2012 May;97(2):205-19
  • Juan F. Reyes, Changiz Geula and Lester I. Binder. Tau Tyrosine Nitration in non-AD Tauopathies. Acta Neuropathol. Jan;123(1):119-32, 2012
  • Patterson KR, Remmers C, Fu Y, Brooker S, Kanaan NM, Vana L, Ward S, Reyes J F, Philibert K, Glucksman MJ, Binder LI, Characterization of prefibrillar tau oligomers in vitro and in Alzheimer’s disease. J Biol Chem. 26:23063-76. 2011
  • Juan F. Reyes, Yifan Fu, Nicholas Kanaan, Changiz Geula and Lester I Binder. Tau Susceptibility to Tyrosine Nitration within the Proline Rich Region: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Tauopathies. Am J Pathol. May;178(5):2275-85, 2011
  • Juan F. Reyes, Karen Stone, Jeanie Ramos, and Andrew Maselli. Formation of Hirano Bodies After Inducible Expression of a Modified Form of an Actin-Cross-linking Protein. Eukaryot Cell. Jun;8(6):852-7, 2009
  • Juan F. Reyes, Matthew R. Reynolds, Peleg Horowittz, Yifan Fu, Angela L. Guillozet-Bongaarts, Robert W. Berry and Lester I Binder. A possible Link Between Tau Nitration and Astrocyte Activation in Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurobiology of Disease. 31, 198-208, 2008
  • Matthew R. Reynolds, Juan F. Reyes, Yifan Fu, Eileen H. Bigio, Angela L. Guillozet-Bongaarts, Robert W. Berry and Lester I Binder. Tau Nitration Occurs at Tyrosine 29 in the Fibrillar Lesions of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Tauopathies. Journal of Neuroscience; 26: 10636 – 10645, 2006
  • Sharp M., Reyes F. Juan, Verma M., Buhse H. Jr. The effects of para-fluoro-L-phenylalanine on the effects of differentiation on the polymorphic ciliate Tetrahymena vorax. Illinois State Academy of Science (ISAS), vol. 97 #1. 2004

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