Margarita Behrens Explained

Margarita Behrens is a neuroscientist and biochemist.^[1] She is currently an associate professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies where her lab studies the impact of oxidative stress on the post-natal brain through probing the biology of fast-spiking parvalbumin interneurons in models of schizophrenia.^[1]

Early life and education

Behrens completed her master's degree at the University of Chile in biochemistry and then continued to the Autonoma University in Madrid to conduct a PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry.^[1] Behrens then completed her post-doctoral work at Washington University in St. Louis.^[2] In 2009, Behrens began working as a staff scientist as the Salk Institute where she led a group of researchers within Terry Sejnowski's computational neuroscience laboratory studying the circuitry implicated in schizophrenia in rodent models.^[1]

Career and research

In 2018, the Salk Institute appointed Behrens as Research Professor, where she remains the first and only faculty member to hold this title.^[2] Her lab currently explores how environmental influences shape prefrontal cortical circuit development as a means to understand why some individuals might progress towards psychiatric illness while others do not.^[3] In an effort to dissect prefrontal cortical neurons in development, Behrens' lab uncovers novel subtypes of neurons through probing their unique DNA methylation patterns.^[4] Using single-nucleus sequencing technologies, Behrens has helped produce a novel dataset mapping the methylomes of both rodent and human prefrontal cortical neurons.^[5] This work has increased our knowledge of the diversity of cell types which provides an important platform for other neuroscientists to ask deeper questions about neural development in both health and disease.^[3] Behrens is now using the methylome dataset to ask translational question about how maternal environment may impact methylation in certain subtypes of neurons and how this may give rise to disease.^[6]

Selected publications

Source:^[7]

• 10.7554/eLife.52981. Losing Dnmt3a dependent methylation in inhibitory neurons impairs neural function by a mechanism impacting Rett syndrome . 2020 . Lavery . Laura A. . Ure . Kerstin . Wan . Ying-Wooi . Luo . Chongyuan . Trostle . Alexander J. . Wang . Wei . Jin . Haijing . Lopez . Joanna . Lucero . Jacinta . Durham . Mark A. . Castanon . Rosa . Nery . Joseph R. . Liu . Zhandong . Goodell . Margaret . Ecker . Joseph R. . Behrens . M Margarita . Zoghbi . Huda Y. . eLife . 9 . 32159514 . 7065908 . free .
• 10.1038/s41594-019-0323-x. An ultra high-throughput method for single-cell joint analysis of open chromatin and transcriptome . 2019 . Zhu . Chenxu . Yu . Miao . Huang . Hui . Juric . Ivan . Abnousi . Armen . Hu . Rong . Lucero . Jacinta . Behrens . M. Margarita . Hu . Ming . Ren . Bing . Nature Structural & Molecular Biology . 26 . 11 . 1063–1070 . 31695190 . 7231560 .
• 10.1016/j.nbd.2019.01.025. Maternal immune activation impairs cognitive flexibility and alters transcription in frontal cortex . 2019 . Amodeo . Dionisio A. . Lai . Chi-Yu . Hassan . Omron . Mukamel . Eran A. . Behrens . M. Margarita . Powell . Susan B. . Neurobiology of Disease . 125 . 211–218 . 30716470 . 6474674 .
• 10.1038/s41467-018-06355-2. Robust single-cell DNA methylome profiling with SNMC-seq2 . 2018 . Luo . Chongyuan . Rivkin . Angeline . Zhou . Jingtian . Sandoval . Justin P. . Kurihara . Laurie . Lucero . Jacinta . Castanon . Rosa . Nery . Joseph R. . Pinto-Duarte . António . Bui . Brian . Fitzpatrick . Conor . o'Connor . Carolyn . Ruga . Seth . Van Eden . Marc E. . Davis . David A. . Mash . Deborah C. . Behrens . M. Margarita . Ecker . Joseph R. . Nature Communications . 9 . 1 . 3824 . 30237449 . 6147798 . 2018NatCo...9.3824L .
• 10.1126/science.aan3351. Single-cell methylomes identify neuronal subtypes and regulatory elements in mammalian cortex . 2017 . Luo . Chongyuan . Keown . Christopher L. . Kurihara . Laurie . Zhou . Jingtian . He . Yupeng . Li . Junhao . Castanon . Rosa . Lucero . Jacinta . Nery . Joseph R. . Sandoval . Justin P. . Bui . Brian . Sejnowski . Terrence J. . Harkins . Timothy T. . Mukamel . Eran A. . Behrens . M. Margarita . Ecker . Joseph R. . Science . 357 . 6351 . 600–604 . 28798132 . 5570439 . 2017Sci...357..600L .
• 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.11.022. Adolescent GBR12909 exposure induces oxidative stress, disrupts parvalbumin-positive interneurons, and leads to hyperactivity and impulsivity in adult mice . 2017 . Khan . Asma . De Jong . Loek A.W. . Kamenski . Mary E. . Higa . Kerin K. . Lucero . Jacinta D. . Young . Jared W. . Behrens . M. Margarita . Powell . Susan B. . Neuroscience . 345 . 166–175 . 27890827 . 5316310 .
• 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.07.005. Abnormal Gamma Oscillations in N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Hypofunction Models of Schizophrenia . 2016 . Jadi . Monika P. . Behrens . M. Margarita . Sejnowski . Terrence J. . Biological Psychiatry . 79 . 9 . 716–726 . 26281716 . 4720598 .
• 10.1038/srep14964. Characterization of spatio-temporal epidural event-related potentials for mouse models of psychiatric disorders . 2015 . Wang . Xin . Pinto-Duarte . António . Behrens . M. Margarita . Zhou . Xianjin . Sejnowski . Terrence J. . Scientific Reports . 5 . 14964 . 26459883 . 4602219 . 2015NatSR...514964W .
• 10.1038/mp.2015.113. Disruption of mGluR5 in parvalbumin-positive interneurons induces core features of neurodevelopmental disorders . 2015 . Barnes . S. A. . Pinto-Duarte . A. . Kappe . A. . Zembrzycki . A. . Metzler . A. . Mukamel . E. A. . Lucero . J. . Wang . X. . Sejnowski . T. J. . Markou . A. . Behrens . M. M. . Molecular Psychiatry . 20 . 10 . 1161–1172 . 26260494 . 4583365 .
• 10.1159/000430091. Early Adolescent Emergence of Reversal Learning Impairments in Isolation-Reared Rats . 2015 . Powell . Susan B. . Khan . Asma . Young . Jared W. . Scott . Christine N. . Buell . Mahalah R. . Caldwell . Sorana . Tsan . Elisa . De Jong . Loek A.W. . Acheson . Dean T. . Lucero . Jacinta . Geyer . Mark A. . Behrens . M. Margarita . Developmental Neuroscience . 37 . 3 . 253–262 . 26022788 . 4644772 .

Selected awards

• 2019 NIH Brain Initiative Award^[8]
• 2019 Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to Expand Human Cell Atlas^[9]
• FEBS predoctoral Fellowship^[10]
• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellowship^[10]
• EMBO fellowship^[10]
• NARSAD Young Investigator Award^[10]
• Daniel X. Freedman Award^[11]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Neuroinformatics 2014: Margarita Behrens. www.neuroinformatics2014.org. en. 2020-03-22.
2. Web site: Salk appoints neuroscientist Margarita Behrens as Research Professor. Salk Institute for Biological Studies. en. 2020-03-22.
3. Web site: Margarita Behrens. Salk Institute for Biological Studies. en. 2020-03-22.
4. Luo. Chongyuan. Rivkin. Angeline. Zhou. Jingtian. Sandoval. Justin P.. Kurihara. Laurie. Lucero. Jacinta. Castanon. Rosa. Nery. Joseph R.. Pinto-Duarte. António. Bui. Brian. Fitzpatrick. Conor. 20 September 2018. Robust single-cell DNA methylome profiling with snmC-seq2. Nature Communications. 9. 1. 3824. 10.1038/s41467-018-06355-2. 2041-1723. 6147798. 30237449. 2018NatCo...9.3824L .
5. Luo. Chongyuan. Keown. Christopher L.. Kurihara. Laurie. Zhou. Jingtian. He. Yupeng. Li. Junhao. Castanon. Rosa. Lucero. Jacinta. Nery. Joseph R.. Sandoval. Justin P.. Bui. Brian. 11 August 2017. Single-cell methylomes identify neuronal subtypes and regulatory elements in mammalian cortex. Science. 357. 6351. 600–604. 10.1126/science.aan3351. 1095-9203. 5570439. 28798132. 2017Sci...357..600L .
6. Amodeo. Dionisio A.. Lai. Chi-Yu. Hassan. Omron. Mukamel. Eran A.. Behrens. M. Margarita. Powell. Susan B.. May 2019. Maternal immune activation impairs cognitive flexibility and alters transcription in frontal cortex. Neurobiology of Disease. 125. 211–218. 10.1016/j.nbd.2019.01.025. 1095-953X. 6474674. 30716470.
7. Web site: Publications. Salk Institute for Biological Studies. en. 2020-03-22.
8. Web site: Salk scientists receive $12.9 million from NIH BRAIN Initiative. EurekAlert!. en. 2020-03-22.
9. Web site: Salk scientists Margarita Behrens and Joseph Ecker to receive over $1.6 million from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to Expand Human Cell Atlas. Sandiegobiotech. 2019-08-19. San Diego Biotechnology Network. en-US. 2020-03-22.
10. Web site: News. Salk Institute for Biological Studies. en. 2020-03-22.
11. Web site: Past Klerman & Freedman Prizewinners. 2017-04-11. Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. en. 2020-03-22.