FacultyHeader
Agenor Limon, MSc, PhD

Curriculum Vitae

Limon, Agenor, MSc, PhD
Assistant Professor
Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders
Department: Neurology

Mailing Address:
301 University Blvd, Route 1045
Galveston, TX 77555-1045

Office: 10.138B Medical Research Building
Phone: 409.772.0077
Lab: 409.772.0064
Fax: 409.747.0015

Education and Post Graduate Training
  • Q.F.B. Chemistry and Pharmacobiology, Faculty of Chemical Sciences. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla, Mexico
  • M.S. Physiological Sciences,  Institute of Physiology. BUAP, Puebla, Mexico. Ad honorem.
  • Ph.D. Physiological Sciences, Institute of Physiology. BUAP, Puebla, Mexico. Cum Laude.
  • Postdoctoral Scholar. Dept. Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California Irvine (UCI), USA.
Research Interest
  • Molecular mechanisms of Excitation-Inhibition imbalance in neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive impairment) and mental disorders (schizophrenia, major disorder and autism).
  • Microtransplantation of Synaptic Membranes (MSM) to direct analysis of pharmacological and biophysical remodeling of human native receptors in disease.
  • Identification and validation of therapeutic targets identified by multidimensional analysis of molecular physiology data.
Selected Publications
  • (From 23 peer-reviewed publications) Limon A, Perez C, Soto E, Vega R.  (2005) Ca2+-activated K+ current density is correlated with soma size in rat vestibular afferent neurons in culture. J Neurophysiol; 94: 3751-3761.
  • Cohen JL, Limon A, Miledi R, Chamberlin AR. (2006) Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of a Scaffold for iGluR Ligands Based on the structure of (-)-Dysiherbaine. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters; 16: 2189-2194.
  • Limon A, Reyes-Ruiz JM, Eusebi F, Miledi R. (2007) Properties of GluR3 receptors tagged with GFP at the amino or carboxyl terminus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA; 104:15526-15530.
  • Limon A, Reyes-Ruiz JM, Miledi R. (2008) Microtransplantation of neurotransmitter receptors from postmortem autistic brains to Xenopus oocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA; 105: 10973-10977.
  • Perez C, Limon A, Vega R, Soto E. (2009) The muscarinic inhibition of the potassium M-current modulates the action-potential discharge in the vestibular primary-afferent neurons of the rat. Neuroscience; 158:1662-1674.
  • Limon A, Reyes-Ruiz JM, Vaswani R, AR Chamberlin, Miledi R. (2010) Kaitocephalin antagonism of glutamate receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. ACS Chem Neurosci; 1: 175-181.
  • Limon A, Reyes-Ruiz JM, Miledi R.(2011) GABAergic drugs and Alzheimer’s. Future Medicinal Chemistry; 3: 149-153.
  • Limon A, Reyes-Ruiz JM, Miledi R. (2012) Loss of functional human GABA receptors in Alzheimer disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 109:10071-10076.
  • Conti L, Limon A, Palma E, Miledi R. (2013) Microtransplantation of cellular membranes from squid stellate ganglion reveals ionotropic GABA receptors. Biol Bull. 224: 47-52.
  • Cervantes B, Vega R, Limón A, Soto E (2013) Identity, expression and functional role of the sodium-activated potassium current in vestibular ganglion afferent neurons. Neuroscience. 240: 163-175.
  • Candelario M, Cuellar E, Reyes-Ruiz JM, Darabedian N, Miledi R, Feimeng Z, Russo-Neustadt A, Limon A (2015). Direct evidence for GABAergic activity of Withania somnifera on mammalian ionotropic GABAA and GABAr receptors. J Ethnopharmacol. 171:264-272.
  • Limon A, Estrada-Mondragón A, Ruiz JM, Miledi R. (2016) Dipicrylamine Modulates GABAρ1 Receptors through Interactions with Residues in the TM4 and Cys-Loop Domains. Mol Pharmacol. 89:446-56.
  • Limon A, Mandamni F, Hjelm B, Vawter M, Sequeira P. (2016) Targets of polyamine dysregulation in major depression and suicide: activity-dependent feedback, excitability and neurotransmission. Neuroscience & Biobehav Rev 60:80-91.
  • Baglietto-Vargas D, Prieto A, Limon A, Forner S, Rodriguez-Ortiz C, Ikemura K, Ager R, Madeiros R, Trujillo-Estrada L. Martini A, Kitazawa M, Davila JC, Cotman C, Gutierrez A, LaFerla F. (2018) Impaired AMPA signaling and cytoskeletal alterations induce early synaptic dysfunction in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Aging Cell.e12791.
  • Limon A, Delbruck E, Yassine A, Pandya D, Myers RM, Barchas JD, Lee F, Schatzberg, Watson SJ, Akil H, Bunney WE, Vawter MP, Sequeira S. Electrophysiological evaluation of extracellular spermine and alkaline pH on synaptic human GABAA receptors. Translational Psychiatry (2019) 9:218.
  • Limon A, Hagopian G, Reyes-Ruiz JM, Miledi R. Tonic Calcium-Activated Chloride Current Sustained by ATP Release and Highly Desensitizing Human P2X1 Receptors. Neuroscience. (2019) Jul 23. pii: S0306-4522(19)30509-3. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience. 2019.07.025.
  • Lallai V, Grimes N, Fowler JP, Sequeira PA, Cartagena P, Limon A, Coutts M, Monuki ES, Bunney W, Demuro A, Fowler CD. Nicotine Acts on Cholinergic Signaling Mechanisms to Directly Modulate Choroid Plexus Function. eNeuro. (2019) Apr 23;6(2).
  • Sequeira A, Shen K, Gottlieb A, Limon A. (2019) Human brain transcriptome analysis finds region- and subject-specific expression signatures of GABAAR subunits. Commun Biol. 2:153.
Honors and Awards
  • 2006, Maximiliano Ruiz Castañeda Award for best research in basic sciences. The National Academy of Medicine in Mexico.
  • 2009, Grass Fellowship at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole MA, USA, The Grass Foundation.
  • 2009, Member of the Mexican SNI in abroad, Level 1, by the National Council of Science and Technology in Mexico (CONACyT).
  • 2014, Travel Award by the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, USA.
  • 2016, Member of the Mexican National System of Researchers (SNI) in abroad, Level 2.
  • 2018, University of Texas System Rising STARs Award.
Professional Affiliations
  • Member, Society for Neuroscience (SFN)
  • Member, Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • Member, Mexican National System of Researchers in abroad (SNI)
  • Member, International Brain Organization (IBRO)
  • Member, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)
  • Reviewer, National Council for Science and Technology. Government of Mexico (CONACyT). 2006-
  • Reviewer, National Agency of Evaluation and Prospective for the Government of Spain (ANEP). 2013-.
  • Reviewer, (ColCiencias) Government of Colombia. 2015-
  • Reviewer, Funding of Science and Technology for the Government of Argentina (FONCyT). 2015-