Maria Teresa Fernandez-Luna, PhD

Education

• Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Instituto de Biotecnologia, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico, 2010
• M.S. in Biochemistry, Instituto de Biotecnologia, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico, 2005
• B.S. in Biology, Universidad de Guadalajara (UdG), Mexico, 2002

Courses Taught

Undergraduate Biology Courses

• BIO 1305 Modern Concepts of Bioscience I
• BIO 1306 Modern Concepts of Bioscience II
• BIO 1401 Current Issues in Human Biology
• BIO 2306 Genetics
• BIO 3366 01 - Foundations of Evolutionary Biology
• BIO 4312 Viruses and Global Health

Research Interest:

• Alternative Approaches to Animal Toxicity Testing - Cell-based Models
• Genetic Engineering of Bacterial Toxins
• Virus–receptor interactions 

Undergraduate Research Publications

Janiga-MacNelly, A., McGraw, M., Fernandez-Luna, M.T. and Lavado, R. Assessment of the toxic effects of parabens, commonly used preservatives in cosmetics, and their halogenated by-products on human skin and endothelial cells. NAM Journal 1 (2025), 100011.

Janiga-MacNelly, A., Vrazel, M., Roat, A.E., Fernandez-Luna, M.T. and Lavado, R. Exploring the biological impact of bacteria-derived indole compounds on human cell health: cytotoxicity and cell proliferation across six cell lines. Toxicology Reports 14 (2025), 101883.

Senthilkumar, S., Solan, M.E., Fernandez-Luna, M.T. and Lavado, R. Cannabidiol and indole-3-carbinol reduce intracellular lipid droplet accumulation in HepaRG, a human liver cell line, as well as in human adipocytes. The Natural Products Journal 14 (2024), e260523217374.

Publications

Tetreau, G., Banneville, A.S., Andreeva, E.A., Brewster, A.S., Hunter, M.S., Sierra, R.G., Teulon, J.M., Young, I.D., Burke, N., Grünewald, T.A., Beaudouin, J., Snigireva, I., Fernandez-Luna, M.T., Burt, A., Park, H.W., Signor, L., Bafna, J.A., Sadir, R., Fenel, D., Boeri-Erba, E., Bacia, M., Zala, N., Laporte, F., Després, L., Weik, M., Boutet, S., Rosenthal, M., Coquelle, N., Burghammer, M., Cascio, D., Sawaya, M.R., Winterhalter, M., Gratton, E., Gutsche, I., Federici, B., Pellequer, J.L., Sauter, N.K., Colletier, J.P. Serial femtosecond crystallography on in vivo-grown crystals drives elucidation of mosquitocidal Cyt1Aa bioactivation cascade. Nature Communications 11 (2020), 1153.

Fernandez-Luna, M.T., Hall, D.G., Mitchell, T., Blackburn, M.B., Bonning, B.C. Identification of Bacillus thuringiensis strains and individual toxins with activity against Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera). Toxins 11(2019), 173.

Deist, M., Rausch, M., Fernandez-Luna, M.T., Adang, M.J., Bonning, B.C. Bt toxin modification for enhanced efficacy. Toxins 6(2014), 3005-3027.

Bideshi, D.K., Waldrop, G., Fernandez-Luna, M.T., Diaz-Mendoza, M., Wirth, M.C., Johnson, J.J., Park, H.W., Federici, B.A. Intermolecular interaction between Cry2Aa and Cyt1Aa and its effect on larvicidal activity against Culex quinquefasciatus. Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 23 (2013), 1107-1115.

Fernandez-Luna, M.T., Tabashnik, B.E., Lanz-Mendoza, H., Bravo, A., Soberon, M., Miranda-Rios, J. Single-concentration tests show synergism among Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis toxins against the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles albimanus. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 104 (2010), 231-233.

Fernandez-Luna, M.T., Lanz-Mendoza, H., Gill, S.S., Bravo, A., Soberon, M., Miranda-Rios, J. An alpha-amylase is a novel receptor for Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis Cry4Ba and Cry11Aa toxins in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles albimanus (Diptera: Culicidae). Environmental Microbiology 12 (2010), 746-757.

Fernandez-Luna, M.T., Miranda-Rios, J. Riboswitch folding: one at a time and step by step. RNA Biology 5 (2008), 20-23.

Mendez, E., Fernandez-Luna, M.T., Lopez, S., Mendez-Toss, M., Arias, C.F. Proteolytic processing of a serotype 8 human Astrovirus ORF2 polyprotein. Journal of Virology 76 (2002), 7996-8002.

Patents

Publication number: 20180127771. Publication date: May 10, 2018. Insecticidal Toxins for Plant Resistance to Hemiptera.