PhD. Luis Marat Alvarez-Salas, scientific adviser

Graduated in Biology with Honors from the Faculty of Higher Studies Iztacala-UNAM in 1988. He completed his Master's (1990) and PhD (1993) in Molecular Biology within the Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology (DGBM) of CINVESTAV in Mexico City. During 1992, he did a research stay at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland USA, where he continued his research on HPV and epithelial differentiation.

Between 1994 to 1998, he did Postdoctoral fellowships at NCI to begin research on therapeutic oligonucleotides against cervical cancer where he produced the first synthetic anti-HPV ribozyme with activity in epithelial cells. In the same period, they developed antisense oligonucleotides (AS-ODNs) against HPV that inhibit the growth of cervical tumor cells in animal models. This work earned him the NCI Technology Transfer Award and resulted in two international patents (US 6,084,090 and 6,277,980).

In 1998 he was recruited as a lead researcher by CINVESTAV and founded the Gene Therapy Laboratory (LTG) within the DGBM, where he continues his work on therapeutic oligonucleotides and RNA structure-function. As Head of the LTG he has published prolifically and received numerous awards.

He has obtained a national patent for an HPV detection system based on RNA aptamers (MX 327972).

Currently his lines of research will include the development of oligonucleotides for the treatment of cervical cancer, ribozymes, DNAzymes, aptamers and the participation of microRNAs in cervical cancer. Recently and in view of the health emergency caused by COVID-19, his research incorporated the development of diagnostic and therapeutic methods against Coronavirus CoV-2 based on nucleic acids.

PhD. Álvarez Salas belongs to the SNI (Level II) and is an evaluation reviewer for various scientific research institutions as well as for international scientific journals. Since 2019, he is the Departmental Head of the DGBM.

PUBLICATIONS

Effect of HPV16 L1 virus-like particles on the aggregation of nonfunctionalized gold nanoparticles

Abstract

Colorimetric assays based on gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are of considerable interest for diagnostics because of their simplicity and low-cost. Nevertheless, a deep understanding of the interaction between the GNPs and the intended molecular target is critical for the development of reliable detection technologies. The present report describes the spontaneous interaction between HPV16 L1 virus-like particles (VLPs) and non-functionalized GNPs (nfGNPs) resulting in the inhibition of nfGNPs salt-induced aggregation and the stabilization of purified VLPs. Ionic-competition experiments suggested that the nature of nfGNPs-VLPs interaction is non-covalent. Adsorption of an RNA aptamer on nfGNPs surface showed an additive aggregation-inhibitory effect. The use of mutant VLPs confirmed that the interaction nfGNPs-VLPs is not mediated by the opposing superficial electrostatic charges, suggesting that non-electrostatic forces participate in the arrangement of nfGNPs on the VLPs surface. Competition experiments using increasing ethanol concentrations on nfGNPs-VLPs complexes suggested hydrophobic interactions as the main stabilizing force. Therefore, the nfGNPs-VLPs interaction described here should facilitate the development of adsorption assays based on nfGNPs for HPV detection and cervical cancer prevention.

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