Jose Rizo-Rey, Ph.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Jose Rizo-Rey serves as the Chair of the Molecular Biophysics graduate program. He was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1959. He received a B.Sc. degree in Organic Chemistry in 1981 from the University of Barcelona. During these college studies, he became very interested in quantum field theory and statistical mechanics, which led him to obtain a second B.Sc. degree, this time in theoretical physics, from the same University in 1988. During the 1982-1988 period, he also obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in organic chemistry from the University of Barcelona, working in the laboratories of Ernest Giralt and Enrique Pedroso. He first worked on pioneering methodology to analyze peptides attached to solid supports by gel-phase 13C NMR spectroscopy, and later on the development of polar protecting groups for peptide synthesis. In 1989 he started postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Lila Gierasch at UT Southwestern, working on conformational studies of a variety of peptides by NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics. In the early 1990s he shifted his interest to protein NMR and protein folding. He established his independent research group in 1995 at UT Southwestern. The main focus of his research is the study of the mechanisms of neurotransmitter release and intracellular membrane fusion using structural biology, a variety of biophysical techniques and reconstitution approaches. A bilingual environment in Barcelona, where most people speaks Catalan and Spanish, together with his move to the US, have led to a duality of names: his official name is Jose Rizo-Rey, but he signs all his publications as Josep Rizo. The Rizo lab homepage can be found at biophysics.swmed.edu/~rizo/

E-mail: Jose.Rizo-Rey@UTSouthwestern.edu

Education

Undergraduate: University of Barcelona (1981), Organic Chemistry
Graduate School: University of Barcelona (1982), Organic Chemistry
Undergraduate: University of Barcelona (1988), Theoretical Physics
Graduate School: University of Barcelona (1988), Organic Chemistry

Research Interest

Mechanisms of intracellular membrane fusion
Mechanisms of neurotransmitter release and presynaptic plasticity
Mechanisms underlying prostate cancer
NMR spectroscopy
Structural biology

Publications

Featured Publications

Autoinhibition of Munc18-1 modulates synaptobrevin binding and helps to enable Munc13-dependent regulation of membrane fusion.: Sitarska E, Xu J, Park S, Liu X, Quade B, Stepien K, Sugita K, Brautigam CA, Sugita S, Rizo J Elife 2017 May 6
Mechanistic Insights into Neurotransmitter Release and Presynaptic Plasticity from the Crystal Structure of Munc13-1 C1C2BMUN.: Xu J, Camacho M, Xu Y, Esser V, Liu X, Trimbuch T, Pan YZ, Ma C, Tomchick DR, Rosenmund C, Rizo J Elife 2017 Feb 6
Functional Synergy between the Munc13 C-terminal C1 and C2 domains.: Liu X, Seven AB, Camacho M, Esser V, Xu J, Trimbuch T, Quade B, Su L, Ma C, Rosenmund C, Rizo J Elife 2016 May 5
Dynamic binding mode of a Synaptotagmin-1-SNARE complex in solution.: Brewer KD, Bacaj T, Cavalli A, Camilloni C, Swarbrick JD, Liu J, Zhou A, Zhou P, Barlow N, Xu J, Seven AB, Prinslow EA, Voleti R, Häussinger D, Bonvin AM, Tomchick DR, Vendruscolo M, Graham B, Südhof TC, Rizo J Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 2015 Jun
Reconstitution of the vital functions of Munc18 and Munc13 in neurotransmitter release.: Ma C, Su L, Seven AB, Xu Y, Rizo J Science 2013 Jan 339 6118 421-5
Munc13 mediates the transition from the closed syntaxin-Munc18 complex to the SNARE complex.: Ma C, Li W, Xu Y, Rizo J Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 2011 May 18 5 542-9
Close membrane-membrane proximity induced by Ca2+-dependent multivalent binding of synaptotagmin 1 to phospholipids: D. Arac, X. Chen, H. A. Khant, J. Ubach, S. J. Ludtke, M. Kikkawa, A. E. Johnson, W. Chiu, T. C. Sudhof and J. Rizo Nat. Struct. Molec. Biol. 2006 13 209-217
Three-dimensional structure of the complexin/SNARE complex: X. Chen, D. Tomchick, E. Kovrigin, D. Arac, M. Machius, T. C. S|dhof and J. Rizo Neuron 2002 33 397-409
Synaptotagmin I functions as a calcium regulator of release probability.: Fernández-Chacón R, Königstorfer A, Gerber SH, García J, Matos MF, Stevens CF, Brose N, Rizo J, Rosenmund C, Südhof TC Nature 2001 Mar 410 6824 41-9
A conformational switch in syntaxin during exocytosis: I. Dulubova, S. Sugita, S. Hill, M. Hosaka, I. Fernandez, T. C. S|dhof and J. Rizo EMBO J. 1999 18 4372-4382

Honors & Awards

Keynote Lecture
Collaborative Research Center 665, Developmental disturbances in the nervous system, Final Symposium, Berlin, Germany (2017)
R35 Research Program Award
NIH (2016)
Keynote Lecture
17th International Neuroscience Winter Conference, Soelden, Austria (2015)
Medalla Narcis Monturiol al Merit Cientific
Generalitat de Catalunya (2015)
Guest Professor
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China (2014-2018)
Visiting Professor
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (2014)
Keynote Lecture
8th Asian Biophysics Association Symposium, Jeju Island, South Korea (2013)
Neuroscience Distinguished Lecture
University of Toronto (2013)
Closing Lecture
35th Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function, Lorne, Australia (2010)
Keynote Spekaer
Centre for Neurogenomics and Cognition Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2010)
Opening Lecture
IV Spanish Portuguese Biophysical Congress, Zaragoza, Spain (2010)
K.P. Professor
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (2008)
Molecular Biosciences Lecturer
Wichita State University (2006)
Visiting Lecturer
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (2006)
Established Investigator Award
American Heart Association (1998)
IV Sant Albert Award for Graduate Research
School of Chemistry Graduates, Catalan Chemical Association (Spain) (1983)
Student Award
Catalan Society of Physical, Chemical, and Mathematical Sciences (Spain) (1983)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Chemical Association
Biophysical Society
Sociedad de Biofísica de España