Javier Diaz Alonso

Picture of Javier Diaz Alonso
Assistant Professor, Anatomy & Neurobiology
School of Medicine
Ph.D., Complutense University of Madrid, 2014, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Phone: (949)824-4951
Email: jdiazalo@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
835 Health Sciences Road.
Irvine Hall room 140
UC Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Synaptic transmission; Synapse organization; Synaptic plasticity; AMPA receptors; endocannabinoid system
Publications
Díaz-Alonso J#, Nicoll RA#. “AMPA receptor trafficking and LTP: Carboxy-termini, Amino-termini and TARPs” Neuropharmacology. 2021, Jul 12. Accepted for publication. #Co-corresponding authors. Review.

Paraíso-Luna J, Aguareles J, Martín R, Ayo-Martín AC, Simón-Sánchez S, García-Rincón D, Costas-Insua C, García-Taboada E, Salas-Quiroga A, Díaz-Alonso J, Isabel Liste I, Sánchez-Prieto J, Cappello S, Guzmán M, Galve-Roperh I “Endocannabinoid signalling in stem cells and cerebral organoids drives differentiation to deep layer projection neurons via CB 1 receptors” Development. 2020 Nov 9;dev.192161. doi: 10.1242/dev.192161. Online ahead of print.

Díaz-Alonso J#, Morishita W, Incontro S, Simms J, Holtzman J, Gill M, Mucke L, Malenka RC, Nicoll RA#. “Long-term potentiation is independent of the C-tail of the GluA1 AMPA receptor subunit”. Elife. 2020 Aug 24;9:e58042. doi: 10.7554/eLife.58042. #Co-corresponding authors.

Zeng M*, Díaz-Alonso J*, Ye F, Chen X, Xu J, Ji Z, Nicoll RA, Zhang M. “Phase Separation-Mediated TARP/MAGUK Complex Condensation and AMPA Receptor Synaptic Transmission”. Neuron. 2019 Nov 6;104(3):529-543. *First authors.

García-Rincón D, Diaz-Alonso J, Ortega Z, de Salas-Quiroga A, Paraíso-Luna J, Aguareles J, Jou C, De Prada I, Martinez Cerdeño V, Aronica E, Guzmán M, Pérez-Jimenez MA and Galve-Roperh I. “Contribution of altered endocannabinoid system to overactive mTORC1 signaling in focal cortical dysplasia” Front Pharmacol. 2019 Jan 9;9:1508.

Tao W, Díaz-Alonso J, Sheng N, Nicoll RA. “Postsynaptic d1 glutamate receptor assembles and maintains hippocampal synapses via Cbln2 and neurexin”. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Jun 5;115(23) :E5373-E5381.

Incontro S, Díaz-Alonso J, Iafrati J, Vieira M, Asensio CS, Sohal VS, Roche KW, Bender KJ, Nicoll RA. “The CaMKII/NMDA receptor complex controls hippocampal synaptic transmission by kinase-dependent and independent mechanisms”. Nat Commun. 2018 May 25;9(1):2069.

Sheng N, Bemben MA, Díaz-Alonso J, Tao W, Shi YS, Nicoll RA. “LTP requires postsynaptic PDZ-domain interactions with glutamate receptor/auxiliary protein complexes”. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Apr 10;115(15):3948-3953.

Ancona Esselmann SG, Díaz-Alonso J, Levy JM, Bemben MA, Nicoll RA. “Synaptic homeostasis requires the membrane-proximal carboxy tail of GluA2”. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Dec 12;114(50):13266-13271.

Díaz-Alonso J*#, Sun YJ*, Granger AJ*, Levy JM, Blankenship SM, Nicoll RA# “Subunit specific role for the amino-terminal domain of AMPA receptors in synaptic targeting”. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Jul 3;114(27):7136-7141. *First authors. #Corresponding authors.

Bravo-Ferrer I, Cuartero M, Zarruk J, Pradillo J, Hurtado O, Romera V, Díaz-Alonso J, García-Segura JM, Guzmán M, Lizasoain I, Galve-Roperh I, Moro MA “The cannabinoid type-2 receptor drives neurogenesis and improves functional outcome after stroke”. Stroke. 2017, Jan; 48(1): 204-212.

Sanchez AM, Quattrone F, Pannese M, Ulisse A, Candiani M, Diaz-Alonso J, Velasco G, Panina-Bordignon P. “The cannabinoid receptor CB1 contributes to the development of ectopic lesions in a mouse model of endometriosis”. Hum Reprod. 2017 Jan;32(1):175-184.

Díaz-Alonso J*#, de Salas-Quiroga A*, Garcez PP, Parsons M, Andradas C, Paraíso-Luna J, García-Rincón D, Sánchez C, Guillemot F, Guzmán M, Galve-Roperh I# “Loss of cannabinoid CB1 receptors induces cortical migration malformations and increases seizure susceptibility”. Cereb Cortex. 2017 Nov 1;27(11):5303-5317.*First authors. #Corresponding authors.

Díaz-Alonso J*, Paraíso-Luna J*, Navarrete C*, del Río C, Cantarero I, Palomares B, Aguareles J, Fernández-Ruiz J, Bellido ML, Pollastro F, Appendino G, Calzado MA, Galve-Roperh I, Muñoz E “VCE-003.2, a novel cannabigerol derivative, enhances neuronal progenitor cell survival and alleviates symptomatology in murine models of Huntington's disease”. Sci Rep. 2016 Jul;6:29789. *First authors.

de Salas-Quiroga A*, Díaz-Alonso J*, García-Rincón D, Remmers F, Vega D, Gómez-Cañas M, Lutz B, Guzmán M, Galve-Roperh I “Prenatal exposure to cannabinoids evokes long-lasting functional alterations by targeting CB1 receptors on developing cortical neurons”. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Nov; 112(44):13693-8. *First authors.

Díaz-Alonso J, Aguado T, de Salas-Quiroga A, Ortega Z, Guzmán M, Galve-Roperh I “CB1 Cannabinoid Receptor-Dependent Activation of mTORC1/Pax6 Signaling Drives Tbr2 Expression and Basal Progenitor Expansion in the Developing Mouse Cortex”. Cereb Cortex. 2015 Sep; 25(9):2395-408.

Garcez, PP, Díaz-Alonso, J, Crespo, I, Castro, D, Bell, D, Guillemot, F “Cenpj/CPAP regulates progenitor divisions and neuronal migration in the cerebral cortex downstream of Ascl1”. Nat Commun. 2015 Mar 10;6:6474.

Galve-Roperh I, Chiurchiù V, Díaz-Alonso J, Bari M, Guzmán M, Maccarrone M “Cannabinoid receptor signaling in progenitor/stem cell proliferation and Differentiation”. Prog Lipid Res. 2013 Oct; 52:633-50. 2013.

Campos, AC, Palazuelos, J, Ortega, Z, Aguiar, DC, Díaz-Alonso, J, Moreira, FA, Guzmán, M, Guimarães, FS, Galve-Roperh, I "The anxiolytic effect of cannabidiol on chronically stressed mice depends on hippocampal neurogenesis: involvement of the endocannabinoid system”. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Jul; 9:1-13.

Díaz-Alonso J, Guzmán M, Galve-Roperh I "Endocannabinoids via CB1 receptors act as neurogenic niche cues during cortical development". Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2012 Dec; 367:3229-41.

Díaz-Alonso, J, Aguado, T, Wu, C-S, Palazuelos, J, Hofmann, C, Garcez, P, Guillemot, F, Lu, H.C, Lutz, B, Guzmán, M, Galve-Roperh, I "The CB1 cannabinoid receptor drives corticospinal motor neuron differentiation through the Ctip2/Satb2 transcriptional regulation axis". J Neurosci. 2012 Nov; 32:16651-65.

Palazuelos, J, Ortega, Z, Díaz-Alonso, J, Guzmán, M, Galve-Roperh, I "CB2 cannabinoid receptors promote neural progenitor cell proliferation via mTORC1 signaling". J Biol Chem. 2012 Jan; 287:1198-209.
Grants
MH118425 K99/R00 NIH/NIMH Pathway to Independence Award.
NARSAD BBRF Young Investigator Award.
Professional Societies
Society for Neuroscience
Last updated
10/04/2021