Cecilia Velasco Dominguez
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Research groups
Cecilia Velasco Dominguez
Dr. Cecilia Velasco completed her PhD in 2022 under Prof. Artur Llobet at the University of Barcelona where she studied the neurobiology of the presynaptic terminal using autaptic cultures. She described a mechanism of presynaptic homeostatic plasticity in response to synapse elimination and demonstrated that presynaptic microtubule dynamics contributes to spontaneous synaptic vesicle release.
She later joined the laboratory of Prof. Gero Miesenböck where she is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford (DPAG, Center of Neural Circuits and Behaviour). Her project aims to investigate the changes in synaptic activity that promote sleep in the fruit fly by combining electrophysiology with genetics, optogenetics and transcriptomics. The ultimate goal of her project is to advance our understanding in the molecular mechanisms underlying homeostatic sleep regulation.
Recent publications
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Mitochondrial origins of the pressure to sleep
Sarnataro R. et al, (2024)
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Microtubule depolymerization contributes to spontaneous neurotransmitter release in vitro
Velasco CD. et al, (2023), Communications Biology, 6
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In Vivo Photocontrol of Microtubule Dynamics and Integrity, Migration and Mitosis, by the Potent GFP-Imaging-Compatible Photoswitchable Reagents SBTubA4P and SBTub2M
Gao L. et al, (2022), JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 144, 5614 - 5628
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In vivo photocontrol of microtubule dynamics and integrity, migration and mitosis, by the potent GFP-imaging-compatible photoswitchable reagents SBTubA4P and SBTub2M
Gao L. et al, (2021)
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Synapse elimination activates a coordinated homeostatic presynaptic response in an autaptic circuit
Velasco CD. and Llobet A., (2020), COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY, 3