ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7059-6741

Resumen de investigación 

Investigación en biología del desarrollo enfocada principalmente en el desarrollo de la corteza cerebral, con foco en la biología celular y molecular que subyacen patologías que afectan al sistema nervioso central como el Síndrome de Pitt-Hopkins y autismo. Adicionalmente, esta investigación tiene especial interés en el impacto que pueden tener los micronutrientes (vitaminas) como posibles agentes terapéuticos en estas patologías.

Producción científica

Proyectos de Docencia y Vinculación con el Medio

Proyectos de investigación:

Subvención a la Instalación a la Academia (SIA) 2025 N°85250134

FONDECYT postdoctorado 2022 N°3220492 “Ácido retinoico como herramienta terapéutica para corregir el desarrollo anormal de la corteza cerebral en el Síndrome de Pitt Hopkins”. Responsable.

Desarrollo y validación de un método de diagnóstico molecular más accesible para el síndrome de Pitt Hopkins. Proyecto de Investigación Aplicada DINNOVA. Código DINNOVA01/2021-I. Año 2022 – 2023. Colaborador.

Publicaciones

Abshire KM, Dagher L, Espinoza F, Gupta A, Hammond JE, Lion AT, Merkuri F, Miao Y, Neiro J, Pahima M, Prabhakara C, Sonpho EK, Styfhals R, Trani Bustos M, Zimmer F. Embryology 2024: a summer like no other. Development. 2025 Jun 1;152(11):dev204908. doi: 10.1242/dev.204908. Epub 2025 May 30. PMID: 40443359.

Carrazana R, Espinoza F, Ávila A. Mechanistic perspective on the actions of vitamin a in autism spectrum disorder etiology. Neuroscience. 2024 Aug 30;554:72-82. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.07.012. Epub 2024 Jul 14. PMID: 39002756.

Dennys CN, Vermudez SAD, Deacon RJM, Sierra-Delgado JA, Rich K, Zhang X, Buch A, Weiss K, Moxley Y, Rajpal H, Espinoza F, Powers S, Ávila AS, Gogliotti RG, Cogram P, Niswender CM, Meyer KC. MeCP2 gene therapy ameliorates disease phenotype in mouse model for Pitt Hopkins syndrome. Neurotherapeutics. 2024 Sep;21(5):e00376. doi: 10.1016/j.neurot.2024.e00376. Epub 2024 Jun 14. PMID: 38876822; PMCID: PMC11579869.

Espinoza F, Carrazana R, Retamal-Fredes E, Ávila D, Papes F, Muotri AR, Ávila A. Tcf4 dysfunction alters dorsal and ventral cortical neurogenesis in Pitt-Hopkins syndrome mouse model showing sexual dimorphism. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2024 Jun;1870(5):167178. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2024.167178. Epub 2024 Apr 16. PMID: 38636614.

Saldivia N, Salazar K, Cifuentes M, Espinoza F, Harrison FE, Nualart F. Ascorbic acid and its transporter SVCT2, affect radial glia cells differentiation in postnatal stages. Glia. 2024 Jan 5. doi: 10.1002/glia.24498. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38180226/

Capítulo de libro:
Development of medical polymers for applications in neurological disorders, 2022. Polymeric Biomaterials for Healthcare Applications ISBN 978-0-323-85233-3. Francisca Espinoza, Walther Ide, Natalia Saldivia, Diego Zelada.

Productividad Científica anterior a la UCSC:
Salazar K, Espinoza F, Cerda-Gallardo G, Ferrada L, Magdalena R, Ramírez E, Ulloa V, Saldivia N, Troncoso N, Oviedo MJ, Barahona MJ, Martínez F, Nualart F. SVCT2 Overexpression and Ascorbic Acid Uptake Increase Cortical Neuron Differentiation, Which Is Dependent on Vitamin C Recycling between Neurons and Astrocytes. Antioxidants (Basel). 2021 Sep 3;10(9):1413. doi: 10.3390/antiox10091413. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34573045/

Jara N, Ramirez E, Ferrada L, Salazar K, Espinoza F, González-Chavarría I, Nualart F. Vitamin C deficient reduces proliferation in a human periventricular tumor stem cell-derived glioblastoma model. J Cell Physiol. 2021 Aug;236(8):5801-5817. doi: 10.1002/jcp.30264. Epub 2021 Jan 11. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33432597/

Espinoza F, Magdalena R, Saldivia N, Jara N, Martínez F, Ferrada L, Salazar K, Ávila F, Nualart F. Vitamin C Recycling Regulates Neurite Growth in Neurospheres Differentiated In Vitro. Antioxidants (Basel). 2020 Dec 14;9(12):1276. doi: 10.3390/antiox9121276. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33327638/

Torres-Vergara P, Ho YS, Espinoza F, Nualart F, Escudero C, Penny J. The constitutive androstane receptor and pregnane X receptor in the brain. Br J Pharmacol. 2020 Jun;177(12):2666-2682. doi: 10.1111/bph.15055. Epub 2020 Apr 22. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32201941/

Katterine Salazar, Fernando Martínez, Margarita Pérez-Martín, Manuel Cifuentes, Laura Trigueros, Luciano Ferrada, Francisca Espinoza, Natalia Saldivia, Romina Bertinat, Katherine Forman y Christian Bonansco. SVCT2 expression and function in reactive astrocytes is a common event in different brain pathologies. Mol. Neurobiol. 2018 Jul;55(7):5439-5452. doi: 10.1007/s12035-017-0762-5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28942474/

Katterine Salazar, Milka Martínez, Viviana Ulloa, Romina Bertinat, Fernando Martínez, Nery Jara, Francisca Espinoza, Ernesto R. Bongarzone y Francisco Nualart. SVCT2 overexpression in neuroblastoma cells induces cellular branching that is associated with ERK signaling. Mol. Neurobiol. 2016 Dec;53(10):6668-6679. doi: 10.1007/s12035-015-9553-z. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26646539/

Francisco Nualart, Lauren Mack, Andrea García, Pedro Cisternas, Ernesto R. Bongarzone, Marjet Heitzer, Nery Jara, Fernando Martínez, Luciano Ferrada, Francisca Espinoza, Víctor Baeza y Katterine Salazar. Vitamin C transporters, recycling and the Bystander effect in the nervous system: SVCT2 versus GLUTs. J. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2014 May 19;4(5):209. doi: 10.4172/2157-7633.1000209 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25110615/

Patricia Pastor, Pedro Cisternas, Katterine Salazar, Carmen Silva-Álvarez, Karina Oyarce, Nery Jara, Francisca Espinoza, Agustín D. Martínez y Francisco Nualart. SVCT2 vitamin C transporter expression in progenitor cells of the postnatal neurogenic niche. Front Cell Neurosci. 2013 Aug 13:7:119. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2013.00119 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23964197/

Capítulo de libro

Development of medical polymers for applications in neurological disorders, 2022. Polymeric Biomaterials for Healthcare Applications ISBN 978-0-323-85233-3. Francisca Espinoza, Walther Ide, Natalia Saldivia, Diego Zelada.

Productividad Científica anterior a la UCSC

Salazar K, Espinoza F, Cerda-Gallardo G, Ferrada L, Magdalena R, Ramírez E, Ulloa V, Saldivia N, Troncoso N, Oviedo MJ, Barahona MJ, Martínez F, Nualart F. SVCT2 Overexpression and Ascorbic Acid Uptake Increase Cortical Neuron Differentiation, Which Is Dependent on Vitamin C Recycling between Neurons and Astrocytes. Antioxidants (Basel). 2021 Sep 3;10(9):1413. doi: 10.3390/antiox10091413. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34573045/ 

Jara N, Ramirez E, Ferrada L, Salazar K, Espinoza F, González-Chavarría I, Nualart F. Vitamin C deficient reduces proliferation in a human periventricular tumor stem cell-derived glioblastoma model. J Cell Physiol. 2021 Aug;236(8):5801-5817. doi: 10.1002/jcp.30264. Epub 2021 Jan 11. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33432597/ 

Espinoza F, Magdalena R, Saldivia N, Jara N, Martínez F, Ferrada L, Salazar K, Ávila F, Nualart F. Vitamin C Recycling Regulates Neurite Growth in Neurospheres Differentiated In Vitro. Antioxidants (Basel). 2020 Dec 14;9(12):1276. doi: 10.3390/antiox9121276. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33327638/ 

Torres-Vergara P, Ho YS, Espinoza F, Nualart F, Escudero C, Penny J. The constitutive androstane receptor and pregnane X receptor in the brain. Br J Pharmacol. 2020 Jun;177(12):2666-2682. doi: 10.1111/bph.15055. Epub 2020 Apr 22. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32201941/

Katterine Salazar, Fernando Martínez, Margarita Pérez-Martín, Manuel Cifuentes, Laura Trigueros, Luciano Ferrada, Francisca Espinoza, Natalia Saldivia, Romina Bertinat, Katherine Forman y Christian Bonansco. SVCT2 expression and function in reactive astrocytes is a common event in different brain pathologies. Mol. Neurobiol. 2018 Jul;55(7):5439-5452. doi: 10.1007/s12035-017-0762-5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28942474/

Katterine Salazar, Milka Martínez, Viviana Ulloa, Romina Bertinat, Fernando Martínez, Nery Jara, Francisca Espinoza, Ernesto R. Bongarzone y Francisco Nualart. SVCT2 overexpression in neuroblastoma cells induces cellular branching that is associated with ERK signaling. Mol. Neurobiol. 2016 Dec;53(10):6668-6679. doi: 10.1007/s12035-015-9553-z. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26646539/

Francisco Nualart, Lauren Mack, Andrea García, Pedro Cisternas, Ernesto R.  Bongarzone, Marjet Heitzer, Nery Jara, Fernando Martínez, Luciano Ferrada, Francisca Espinoza, Víctor Baeza y Katterine Salazar. Vitamin C transporters, recycling and the Bystander effect in the nervous system: SVCT2 versus GLUTs. J. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2014 May 19;4(5):209. doi: 10.4172/2157-7633.1000209 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25110615/

Patricia Pastor, Pedro Cisternas, Katterine Salazar, Carmen Silva-Álvarez, Karina Oyarce, Nery Jara, Francisca Espinoza, Agustín D. Martínez y Francisco Nualart. SVCT2 vitamin C transporter expression in progenitor cells of the postnatal neurogenic niche. Front Cell Neurosci. 2013 Aug 13:7:119. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2013.00119 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23964197/