Álvarez-Buylla is a professor and endowed chair in neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco.[1] His research as a Principal Investigator at the Brain Tumor Research Center is in the fields of developmental neuroscience and neurobiology”.[1]
In 2011, Álvarez-Buylla and his lab discovered findings relating to the incorporation of new neurons into adult brains.[1] Additionally, Álvarez-Buylla has worked on designing research devices. His designs include devices for laboratory applications such as tissue mounts, mapping systems for tissue sections, and staining techniques.[1]
Álvarez-Buylla's more recent research is primarily focused on the mechanisms of neurogenesis from neuronal stem cells that occupy different germinal niches.[2] Álvarez-Buylla's laboratory found that adult neural stem cells are specialized to produce different neuronal cells based on their location in the ventricle.[2] Specifically, he is investigating the possible inhibition of nervous system activity in people with neurological conditions due to embryonic medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) cells.[1] By analyzing the balance between inhibitory and excitatory signaling in the nervous system from MGE cells, Álvarez-Buylla contributed to the development of treatments for Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, and spinal cord injury.[1]
Álvarez-Buylla and his lab investigate plasticity and brain repair mechanisms from the introduction of new neurons through transplantation or by natural processes of endogenous stem cells.[2] His laboratory is looking into the contribution of new neurons using the strategies his team has developed for transplanting local circuit nerves into the cerebral cortex.[2]
Doetsch F, Caillé I, Lim DA, García-Verdugo JM, Alvarez-Buylla A. “Subventricular zone astrocytes are neural stem cells in the adult mammalian brain.” Cell vol. 97,6 (1999): 703–16. doi:10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80783-7.
Kriegstein, Arnold, and Arturo Alvarez-Buylla. “The glial nature of embryonic and adult neural stem cells.” Annual review of neuroscience vol. 32 (2009): 149–84. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135600
Doetsch F, García-Verdugo JM, Alvarez-Buylla A. “Cellular composition and three-dimensional organization of the subventricular germinal zone in the adult mammalian brain.” The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience vol. 17,13 (1997): 5046–61. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-13-05046.1997
Alvarez-Dolado M, Pardal R, Garcia-Verdugo JM, Fike JR, Lee HO, Pfeffer K, Lois C, Morrison SJ, Alvarez-Buylla A. “Fusion of bone-marrow-derived cells with Purkinje neurons, cardiomyocytes and hepatocytes.” Nature vol. 425,6961 (2003): 968–73. doi:10.1038/nature02069
Seri B, García-Verdugo JM, McEwen BS, Alvarez-Buylla A. “Astrocytes give rise to new neurons in the adult mammalian hippocampus.” The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience vol. 21,18 (2001): 7153–60. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-18-07153.2001
