Constanza J Cortes

Constanza J Cortes

Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology

Email: 
constanza.cortes@duke.edu

Overview

I am interested in understanding how our brain ages, and in particular, how it ages as an integrated part of a physiological system. My research represents a cutting edge approach to our understanding of brain plasticity and aging, as it suggests that distant tissues such as skeletal muscle may be fundamentally influencing the rate at which our brain ages. Importantly, as these conversations may be disrupted in age-associated neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer's disease), I am to uncover and develop novel therapeutics for these disorders.

Education & Training

  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dept. Of Pediatrics, University of California - San Diego 2010 - 2016

  • Ph.D., The University of Chicago 2010

Cortes, Constanza J., and Albert R. La Spada. “The many faces of autophagy dysfunction in Huntington's disease: from mechanism to therapy.” Drug Discov Today, vol. 19, no. 7, July 2014, pp. 963–71. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2014.02.014. Full Text

Lieberman, Andrew P., et al. “Peripheral androgen receptor gene suppression rescues disease in mouse models of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.” Cell Rep, vol. 7, no. 3, May 2014, pp. 774–84. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2014.02.008. Full Text

Cortes, Constanza J., et al. “Muscle expression of mutant androgen receptor accounts for systemic and motor neuron disease phenotypes in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.” Neuron, vol. 82, no. 2, Apr. 2014, pp. 295–307. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2014.03.001. Full Text

Cortes, Constanza J., and Albert R. La Spada. “Motor neuron degeneration in spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy is a skeletal muscle-driven process: Relevance to therapy development and implications for related motor neuron diseases.” Rare Dis, vol. 2, no. 1, 2014, p. e962402. Pubmed, doi:10.4161/2167549X.2014.962402. Full Text Open Access Copy

Cortes, Constanza J., et al. “Early Delivery of Misfolded PrP from ER to Lysosomes by Autophagy.” Int J Cell Biol, vol. 2013, 2013, p. 560421. Pubmed, doi:10.1155/2013/560421. Full Text Open Access Copy

Cortes, Constanza J., et al. “Rapamycin delays disease onset and prevents PrP plaque deposition in a mouse model of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease.” J Neurosci, vol. 32, no. 36, Sept. 2012, pp. 12396–405. Pubmed, doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6189-11.2012. Full Text

Tunnell, E., et al. “A novel PRNP-P105S mutation associated with atypical prion disease and a rare PrPSc conformation.” Neurology, vol. 71, no. 18, Oct. 2008, pp. 1431–38. Pubmed, doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000330237.94742.fa. Full Text

Cortes, Constanza J., et al. “Proacrosin/acrosin quantification as an indicator of acrosomal integrity in fresh and frozen dog spermatozoa.” Anim Reprod Sci, vol. 93, no. 1–2, June 2006, pp. 165–75. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2005.08.001. Full Text

Retamal, Mauricio A., et al. “S-nitrosylation and permeation through connexin 43 hemichannels in astrocytes: induction by oxidant stress and reversal by reducing agents.” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 103, no. 12, Mar. 2006, pp. 4475–80. Pubmed, doi:10.1073/pnas.0511118103. Full Text

Codelia, Verónica A., et al. “Inhibition of the vacuolar H(+)-pump with bafilomycin A1 does not induce acrosome reaction or activate proacrosin in mouse spermatozoa.” Biochem Biophys Res Commun, vol. 337, no. 4, Dec. 2005, pp. 1337–44. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.10.002. Full Text

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