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Judson Sheridan, D. Phil

Professor and Norwegian Centennial Interdisciplinary Chair
Director of CBS International Programs

Mailing Address:
University of Minnesota
Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development
6-160 Jackson
321 Church St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
USA
Education:
D.Phil. in Neurophysiology, Oxford University, 1965

Honors:
Rhodes Scholarship – 1962 - 1965
Outstanding Young Men of America - 1970
Career Development Award (NCI) – 1972 – 1977
Athletic Hall of Fame, Hamline University – 1982
Science Alumni Gallery of Achievement–Hamline University-1995
Office:
6-140 MCB
P: 612-625-8122
F: 612-624-0426

Email:
sheri012@umn.edu

 Lab:
6-152 MCB
P: 612-624-9726

Areas of Research Strength:

Functional Studies of Gap Junction Communication
Quantitative analysis of hemichannel and gap junction permeability


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Research Techniques:

Electrophysiology
Intercellular dye transfer
Quantitative Image Analysis
Freeze-fracture electron microscopy

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Research Interests:

Dr. Sheridan has a long-standing research interest in gap junctions
and their role in intercellular communication. Over the years he worked
on a variety of systems and organisms, e.g. chick, amphibian, and fish
embryos; tumors and tumor cells in culture; endothelium and other
vascular cells ex vivo and in culture; and pancreatic islets. Certain
themes are common to many of these studies, e.g. the quantitative
relationship between gap junction structure and permeability; the
function of gap junctions in development; the role of gap junctions
in normal and abnormal cell growth; the process and regulation
of gap junction formation; and the involvement of gap junctions
in cell-cell signaling.

Dr. Sheridan's current research involves a reestablished collaboration
with Ross Johnson, a faculty colleague in GCD. One major focus is on
the regulation of gap junction assembly in model cell culture systems,
with a particular emphasis on trafficking of gap junction hemichannels
to the cell surface. His primary role in the project has been to develop
quantitative digital imaging methods for studying the permeability of
membrane hemichannels. Methods for studying the dynamics of dye
leakage and uptake through hemichannels have been devised, based
on earlier work in Dr. Sheridan's lab on gap junctional dye permeability.
They will be used ultimately to evaluate the effects of various experimental
andnatural regulators on the trafficking process (see C to the right poster)

Another focus is on the role of gap junctions in the development of the
Zebrafish notochord. The studies have uncovered some intriguing, and
unprecedented, patterns of gap junctional dye permeability in different regions
of the notochord.These patterns can be modified by selective knock-down
of specific connexins(gap junction proteins) by injection of connexin morpholinos,
which also producessome distinctive phenotypes. The goal is to learn more
about how the gap junction patterns in the notochord relate to its function
as an axial organizer (see A to the right poster).


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Selected Publications:

Recent:

Sheridan, J.D., Evenson, K, and R.G. Johnson. (2003) A new dye-leakage approach to estimating membrane permeance of Cx43-hemichannels. International Gap Junction Conference, Cambridge, UK (poster)

Johnson, R.G., R.A. Meyer, X.-R. Li, D. Preus, L. Tan, H.Y. Li, A.F. Paulson, D.W. Laird and J. Sheridan (2002) Gap junctions assemble in the presence of cytoskeletal inhibitors, but enhanced assembly requires microtubules. Exper. Cell Res. 275:67-80.

TenBroek, E.M., Sheridan, J.D., and R.G. Johnson (2001) Characterization of an in vitro system for studying of the role of connexins in maintaining myocardial cell beat synchrony. International Gap Junction Conference, Hawaii (poster and B on the right)

Sheridan, J.D., Krufka, A., Hackett, P.B. and R.G. Johnson (2000) Gap junction communication in the developing zebrafish notochord. Zebrafish Development & Genetics, Cold Spring Harbor (poster)

Earlier:

Biegon, R.P., Atkinson, M.M., Liu, T.-F., Kam, E.Y., and J.D. Sheridan (1987) Permeance of Novikoff hepatoma gap junctions: quantitiative video analysis of dye transfer. J. Membrane Biol. 96:225-233.

Atkinson, M.M., Anderson, S.K., and J.D. Sheridan (1986) Modification of gap junctions in cells transformed by a temperature-sensitive mutant of Rous Sarcoma virus. J. Membrane Biol. 91:53-64.

Sheridan, J.D., Finbow, M.E., and J.D. Pitts (1979) Metabolic interactions between animal cells through permeable intercellular junctions. Exper. Cell Res. 123:111-117.

Sheridan, J.D., Hammer-Wilson, M., Preus, D. and R.G. Johnson (1978) Quantitative analysis of low-resistance junctions between cultured cells and correlation with gap-junctional areas. J Cell Biol, 76:532-544.

Sheridan, J.D. (1971) Low-resistance junctions between cancer cells in various solid tumors. J. Cell Biol. 45:91 - 99.( Abstract of this paper selected for inclusion in Cancer Year Book, 1971)

Dr. Sheridan's Full CV


To view these and other publications visit http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed
search menu should say PubMed
type Sheridan JD in the avaliable line

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Related Links:

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Full size version of diagram.
 
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 Last modified on Thursday, November 2, 2006