Julia Sanz Aparicio

Personal Details

Corresponding Address:

Department of Crystallography & Structural Biology
Institute of Physical Chemistry “Rocasolano” (IQFR)
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Serrano 119. 28006 Madrid, SPAIN

E-mail: xjulia@iqfr.csic.es

Place and Date of Birth: Madrid (Spain), Mars 26th, 1959

Degrees

1987: PhD Thesis in Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid
1982: Master Degree in Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid

Academic Records

2005: Senior Research Scientist
1990-1991: Visiting Scientist, Lab. of Mol. Biology, Birkbeck College, London Univ.
1989 to present: Tenured Researcher, Crystallography Department, CSIC
1987-1989: Postdoctoral Fellow, CSIC, Rocasolano Institute, Madrid. PhD
1985-1987: PhD Research Fellow, CSIC, Rocasolano Institute, Madrid. PhD
1982-1984: Postgraduate Fellow, Technological Institute of Madrid.
1981-1982: Research Student, CSIC, Industrial Fermentations Institute, Madrid

Awards and Fellowships

1997: UE-ESRF Large Facilities Grant
1990-1991: Spanish Ministry of Science Fund for Researchers Mobility
1988-1989: Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Fellowship
1985-1988: Spanish Ministry of Education and Science Fellowship
1982 -1983: Postgraduate Technical Institute- Regional Government Fellowship

Professional Activities

2001: Group leader at the Department of Crystallography (CSIC)
2009-2012: Councillor of the Chemical Science Commission (CSIC)
1998: Ad hoc reviewer for the Spanish Ministry of Research, Research Council of Spain
(CSIC), National Science Foundation of Colombia (COLCIENCIAS), National
Science Foundation of Argentina (FONCYT)
1995: Teaching in Doctorate Programs at UCM and UAM Universities (Madrid)
1998: Supervisor of PhD Research

Membership in Professional Societies

Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM).
Spanish Society for Biophysics (SEB).
Spanish Group of Crystallography (GEC).
Spanish Synchrotron Radiation Users Organization (AUSE).

Research Interest

Structural Enzymology; Molecular approach of enzymatic mechanism; Structural Biology of modular carbohydrate- active enzymes.

Summary of Scientific Results
  • 9 research grants as Principal Investigator and 10 more as participant (2 from EU) 
  • 117 Publications in Internationally Referred Journals (1675 citations according to the Science Citation Index- 2015, and average citations per year of 56)
  • H-index 25
  • 90 entries deposited in the Protein Data Bank 
  • 3 Invited Book Chapters
Selection of Recent Articles

Structural analysis of β-fructofuranosidase from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous reveals unique features and the crucial role of N-glycosylation in oligomerization and activity. M. Ramírez-Escudero, M. Gimeno-Pérez, B. González, D. Linde, Z. Merzdo, M. Fernández-Lobato, J. Sanz-Aparicio. Journal of Biological Chemistry (2016) 291, 6842-6857

Exploring multimodularity in plant cell wall deconstruction: structural and functional analysis of Xyn10C containing the CBM22-1-CBM22-2 tandem. MA. Sainz-Polo, B. González,  FJ. Pastor, J. Sanz-Aparicio. Journal of Biological Chemistry (2015) 290. 17116-171130

Structural analysis of glucuronoxylan specific Xyn30D and its attached CBM35 domain give insights into the role of modularity in specificity. MA. Sainz-Polo, S. Valenzuela, B. González,  FJ. Pastor, J. Sanz-Aparicio .Journal of Biological Chemistry (2014) 289, 31088-31101

Crystal structure and functional insights into uracil-DNA glycosylase inhibition by phage φ29 DNA mimic protein p56. JI. Baños-Sainz, L. Mojardín, J. Sanz-Aparicio, JM. Lázaro, L. Villar, G. Serrano-Heras, B. González, M. Salas, Nucleic Acids Research (2013) 41, 6761-6773

The three-dimensional structure of Saccharomyces invertase: role of a noncatalytic domain in oligomerization and substrate specificity. MA. Sainz-Polo, M. Ramírez, A Lafraya, B. González, J. Marín-Navarro, J. Polaina, J. Sanz-Aparicio. Journal of Biological Chemistry (2013) 288, 9755-9766

Structural and kinetic insights reveal that the amino acid pair GLN228/ASN254 modulates the transfructosylating specificity of Schwanniomyces occidentalis β-fructofuranosidase, an enzyme that produces prebiotics. M. Alvaro-Benito, MA. Sainz-Polo, B. Gonzalez-Perez, FJ. Plou,  M. Fernandez-Lobato, J. Sanz-Aparicio.  Journal of Biological Chemistry (2012) 287, 19674-19686

Inositol 1,3,4,5,6-pentakisphosphate 2-kinase is a distant IPK member with a singular inositide binding site for axial 2-OH recognition. B. González, JI. Baños-Sanz,  M. Villate, C. Brearley, C. J. Sanz-Aparicio, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2010) 107, 9608-9613