Current Position
Assistant Professor
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
University of California Santa Barbara
https://labs.mcdb.ucsb.
Scientific Interest
Wiring of the unfolded protein response in normal cells and in disease.
Current Research Interests
Protein-RNA interactions operating during the ER stress response employing next generation sequencing coupled to biochemistry and cell biology methods. The re-wiring of the unfolded protein response in cancer cells employing ultra complex shRNA libraries to discover genetic vulnerabilities.
Former Lab Affiliations
| 2003-2008 | Dr. Brian Dynlacht – Graduate Student, New York University |
Education
| 2008 | Ph.D Biomedical Sciences – New York University, |
| 2005 | M.S. Biomedical Sciences – New York University, |
| 2002 | M.S. Biological Sciences – Universidad de los Andes, |
| 2001 | B.S. Biological Sciences – Universidad de los Andes, |
Selected Publications
Karagöz GE, Acosta-Alvear D, Walter P. The Unfolded Protein Response: Detecting and Responding to Fluctuations in the Protein-Folding Capacity of the Endoplasmic Reticulum. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. Review 11:a033886, 2019
(PMID : 30670466) (PDF)
(PMID : 30670466) (PDF)
Acosta-Alvear D, Karagöz GE, Fröhlich F, Li H, Walther T, Walter P. The unfolded protein response and endoplasmic reticulum protein targeting machineries converge on the stress sensor IRE1. eLife 7:e43036, 2018
(PMID : 30582518) (PDF)
(PMID : 30582518) (PDF)
Karagöz GE, Acosta-Alvear D, Nguyen HT, Lee CP, Chu F, Walter P. An unfolded protein-induced conformational switch activates mammalian IRE1. eLife 6:e30700, 2017
(PMID : 28971800) (PDF)
(PMID : 28971800) (PDF)
Peschek J, Acosta-Alvear D, Mendez AS, Walter P. A conformational RNA zipper promotes intron ejection during non‐conventional XBP1 mRNA splicing. EMBO Rep 16:1688–1698, 2015
(PMCID : 4687415) (PMID : 26483401) (PDF)
(PMCID : 4687415) (PMID : 26483401) (PDF)
Li X, Colvin T, Rauch JN, Acosta-Alvear D, Kampmann M, Dunyak B, Hann B, Aftab BT, Murnane M, Cho M, Walter P, Weissman JS, Sherman MY, Gestwicki JE. Validation of the Hsp70-Bag3 protein-protein interaction as a potential therapeutic target in cancer. Mol Cancer Ther 14:642-8, 2015
(PMCID : 4456214) (PMID : 25564440) (PDF)
(PMCID : 4456214) (PMID : 25564440) (PDF)
Mendez A, Alfaro J, Morales-Soto MA, Dar AC, McCullagh E, Gotthardt K, Li H, Acosta-Alvear D, Sidrauski C, Korennykh AV, Bernales S, Shokat KM, Walter P. Endoplasmic reticulum stress-independent activation of unfolded protein response kinases by a small molecule ATP-mimic. eLife 4:e07314, 2015
(PMCID : PMC4436593) (PMID : 25875391) (PDF)
(PMCID : PMC4436593) (PMID : 25875391) (PDF)
Acosta-Alvear D, Cho M, Wild T, Buchholz TJ, Lerner AG, Simakova O, Hahn J, Korde N, Landgren O, Maric I, Choudhary C, Walter P, Weissman JS, Kampmann M. Paradoxical resistance of multiple myeloma to proteasome inhibitors by decreased levels of 19S proteasomal subunits. eLife 4:e08153, 2015
(PMCID : PMC4602331) (PMID : 26327686) (PDF)
(PMCID : PMC4602331) (PMID : 26327686) (PDF)
Lu M, Lawrence D, Marsters S, Acosta-Alvear D, Kimmig P, Mendez A, Paton A, Paton J, Walter P, Ashkenazi A. Opposing unfolded-protein-response signals converge on death receptor 5 to control apoptosis. Science 345:98-101, 2014
(PMCID : PMC4163648) (PMID : 24994655) (PDF)
(PMCID : PMC4163648) (PMID : 24994655) (PDF)
Sidrauski C, Acosta-Alvear D, Khoutorsky A, Vedantham P, Hearn B, Li H, Gamache K, Gallagher C, Ang K, Wilson C, Okreglak V, Ashkenazi A, Hann B, Nader K, Arkin M, Renslo A, Sonenberg N, Walter P. Pharmacological brake-release of mRNA translation enhances cognitive memory. eLife 2:e00498, 2013
(PMCID : PMC3667625) (PMID : 23741617) (PDF)
(PMCID : PMC3667625) (PMID : 23741617) (PDF)
Behrman S, Acosta-Alvear D, Walter P. A CHOP-regulated microRNA controls rhodopsin expression. J Cell Biol 192:919-27, 2010
(PMID : 21402790) (PDF)
(PMID : 21402790) (PDF)