Department of Physiology and Biophysics of the School of Medicine-University of Puerto Rico

 

 

Carlos A. Torres-Ramos

 Carlos A. Torres-Ramos
Position Assistant Professor
Education Ph.D., 1995 University of Texas Medical Branch
Phone: (787)758-2525 x1645
email: catorres@rcm.upr.edu

 

Research Interests

I am interested in understanding how DNA repair processes contribute to physiological functions. Studies in aging and pathological conditions such as cancer and some neurodegenerative disorders have revealed that maintenance of genomic integrity is essential for physiological processes. Some of the specific questions that I study are how DNA repair contributes to mitochondrial function and how this relates to aging, cancer and neurodegeneration. In addition, I am interested in understand how environmental factors may influence those conditions. My laboratory uses the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the main experimental model. Using this organism we can ask very basic questions whose answers can be translated to more complex organisms. We also use mammalian models such as mice and human cells to ask questions about DNA repair and mitochondrial function. These experiments are in collaboration with Dr. Sylvette Ayala-Torres, from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

 

Relevant Publications

  • Lajos Haracska, Carlos A. Torres-Ramos, Robert E. Johnson, Satya Prakash, and Louise Prakash (2004). Opposing effects of ubiquitin conjugation and SUMO modification of PCNA on replicational bypass of DNA lesions in yeast. Mol Cell Biol. 24:4267-4274.

  • Sami N. Guzder, Carlos Torres-Ramos, Robert E. Johnson, Lajos Haracska, Louise Prakash, and Satya Prakash (2004). Requirement of yeast Rad1–Rad10 nuclease for the removal of 3'-blocked termini from DNA strand breaks induced by reactive oxygen species. Genes & Dev.18: 2283-2291.

  • Carlos A. Torres-Ramos, Satya Prakash and Louise Prakash (2002). Requirement of RAD5 and MMS2 for Postreplication Repair of UV-Damaged DNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 22: 2419-2426.

  • Carlos A. Torres-Ramos, Robert E. Johnson, Louise Prakash, and Satya Prakash (2000). Evidence for the Involvement of Nucleotide Excision Repair in the Removal of Abasic Sites in Yeast. Mol Cell Biol. 20: 3522-352.

  • Robert E. Johnson, Carlos A. Torres-Ramos, Tadahide Izumi, Sankar Mitra, Satya Prakash, and Louise Prakash (1998). Identification of APN2, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Homolog of the Major Human AP-endonuclease HAP1, and its Role in the Repair of Abasic Sites. Genes & Dev. 12: 3137-3143.

  • Carlos A. Torres-Ramos, Satya Prakash, and Louise Prakash (1997). Requirement of Yeast DNA Polymerase  in Post-Replicational Repair of UV-Damaged DNA. J Biol Chem. 272: 25455-25448.

  • Carlos A. Torres-Ramos, Bonita L. Yoder, Peter M.J. Burgers, Satya Prakash, and Louise Prakash. (1996). Requirement of Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen in RAD6-dependent Postreplicational DNA Repair. PNAS USA 93: 9676-9681.

 

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