Faculty

Dr. Fernando Cardozo-Pelaez

Associate Professor
Email: fernando.cardozo@umontana.edu
Phone: (406) 243-4025

Originally from Colombia, Fernando Cardozo-Pelaez received a bachelor degree in Chemistry at the Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira in Colombia. He graduated with a Masters in Analytical Chemistry under Dr. Robert Braman at the University of South Florida, and in 1996 earned a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences at the University of South Florida in Tampa under Dr. Lynn Wecker tutelage. After a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neurology in the University of South Florida, under Dr. Juan Sanchez-Ramos guidance, Fernando moved to the University of Montana as an Assistant Professor in 2002.

Research Statement

The main objective in the Cardozo lab is to determine the effects that exposure to environmental neurotoxins have on levels of DNA damage and the DNA repair capacity in the central nervous system, and how these effects will alter neuronal function or will lead to neuronal death. 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (oxo8dG), a free radical-induced base, has been shown to be associated with processes of neurodegeneration that occur in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers and Parkinson's or after neurotoxicologycal insult. Accumulation of oxo8dG has been shown to be promutagenic in dividing cells. However, the functional relevance of high levels of oxo8dG in non-dividing cells is unknown. The CNS is a heterogeneous mixture of cells; therefore, it is difficult to elucidate the degree of damage to glia, as compared to neurons from studies of gross tissue. Ongoing studies with PC 12 cells, a model of neuronal differentiation, are being used to understand the differential response in DNA repair capacity of actively dividing cells compared to terminally differentiated cells, after toxicological insult. The research group also works on studies aimed to link processes of neurodegeneration and failure in the DNA repair system with increased susceptibility to neurotoxicants during normal aging. So far, it has been found that DNA damage accumulation (oxo8dG) in brain regions is regulated by the activity of the glycosylase that repairs it. Clearly, there are many other steps involved in base-excision repair of damaged DNA in post-mitotic tissues. Thus, there may be other components of DNA repair that are deficient or more susceptible to neurotoxins during aging or in specific neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, our lab identified a treatment that selectively increases the activity of the enzyme responsible for removing oxo8dG form DNA in specific brain regions. Detailed studies are being done to identify the mechanism responsible for DNA repair up-regulation, as well as its possible protective role. Additionally, studies are being performed to determine if DNA repair capacity is lost with aging or the inducible component is compromised after toxicological insult.

Recent Publications

Wells SM, Buford MC, Porter VM, Brunell HL, Bunderson-Schelvan M, Nevin AB, Cardozo-Pelaez F, Holian A. Role of the Serotonergic System in Reduced Pulmonary Function Following Exposure to Methamphetamine. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2009 Jun 18. [Epub ahead of print] PMC Journal - In Process.

Giselle Cerchiaro, Celeste Bolin, and Fernando Cardozo-Pelaez (2009) Hydroxyl radical oxidation of guanosine 5’-triphosphate (GTP): requirement for a GTP-Cu(II) complex. 14(2): 82-92. Redox Report. NIHMSID: 137529.

Nasser H. Zawia, Debomoy K. Lahiri and Fernando Cardozo–Peláez (2009) Epigenetics, oxidative stress and Alzheimer's Disease. 46(9):1241-1249. Free Radical of Biology and Medicine. PMCID: PMC2673453.

Celeste Bolin, and Fernando Cardozo-Pelaez (2009) Characterization of oxidized guanosine 5’-triphosphate (oxo8GTP) as a viable inhibitor of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC). 46(6): 828-835. Free Radical of Biology and Medicine. PMID: 19167482.

Golo Kronenberg, Christoph Harms, Robert W. Sobol, Fernando Cardozo-Pelaez, Benjamin Winter, Mustafa Balkaya, Karen Gertz, Shanna B. Gay, David Cox, Heinz Linhard, Sarah Eckart, Michael Ahmadi, Georg Juckel, Gerd Kempermann, Rainer Hellweg, Heide Hörtnagl, Samuel H. Wilson, Rudolf Jaenisch, and Matthias Endres (2008) Neurodegeneration, cognitive deficits, and depressive phenotype induced by folate-deficiency and impaired uracil base excision repair. 28(28):7219–7230. Journal of Neuroscience. PMID: 18614692.

Jinfang Wu, Md. Riyaz Basha, Brian Brock, David P. Cox, Fernando Cardozo-Pelaez, Christopher A. McPherson, Jean Harry, Deborah C. Rice, Bryan Maloney, Demao Chen, Debomoy K. Lahiri, and Nasser H. Zawia (2008) Alzheimer's disease (AD) like pathology in aged monkeys following infantile exposure to environmental metal lead (Pb): Evidence for a developmental origin and environmental link for AD. 28(1): 3-9. Journal of Neurosciences. PMCID: PMC2486412.

CHAPTERS

Song, S., Cardozo-Peláez, F and Sanchez-Ramos, J. (2001) Relationship of Organochlorine Pesticides to Parkinsonism. In, Neurotoxic Factors in Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders. Pp237-245. (edited by Collins and Storch, Kluwer (Academic/Plenum).

Stedeford, T. and Cardozo-Peláez, F. (2004) DNA Damage and Repair in Neurotoxicology. In Molecular Neurotoxicology: Transcriptional Targets. Pp123-149 (edited by Nasser H. Zawia, Taylor and Francis Books. London, UK)

Research Funding

• National Institute on Aging
• Oxidative damage to DNA: implications for neurodegeneration in aging