Marion Sewer, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Molecular Therapeutics and Toxicology, Emory University, 1998
Phone: (404) 385-4211
Fax: (404) 894-0519
Office: (IBB) 1313/1230
Research Interests
Regulation of steroid hormone biosynthesis; Nuclear receptor regulation and signaling; cytochrome P-450 regulation; Bioactive lipid signaling; hormone- dependent cancers
Current Research
Steroid hormones are important regulators of many physiological processes including, but not limited to, maintenance of homeostasis, development of secondary sex characteristics, and gluconeogenesis. These hormones are synthesized from cholesterol by members of the cytochrome P450 superfamily and by steroid dehydrogenases in steroidogenic tissues such as the adrenal cortex, ovaries, testes, and placenta. Professor Marion Sewer's laboratory studies how trophic hormones (adrenocorticotropin, leutenizing hormone) derived from the anterior pituitary regulate the transcription of genes in the steroid hormone biosynthetic pathway. Research efforts focus on characterizing how dual-specificity phosphatases direct increased steroidogenic gene expression in response to trophic hormone stimulation. Her lab also is interested the role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade in mediating steroidogenic gene expression. Other studies are aimed at investigating the role of co-activators/co-repressors and chromatin remodeling in maintaining regulated balance between activation and repression of steroidogenic gene transcription.
Selected Publications
Urs AN, Dammer E, Kelly S, Wang E, Merrill AH Jr, Sewer MB. Steroidogenic factor-1 is a sphingolipid binding protein. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2007 Feb; 265-266:174-8.
Dammer EB, Leon A, Sewer MB. Coregulator Exchange and Sphingosine-Sensitive Cooperativity of Steroidogenic Factor-1, GCN5, p54, and p160 Coactivators Regulate cAMP-Dependent CYP17 Transcription Rate. Molecular Endocrinology 21(2):415-38, 2007.
Urs AN, Dammer EB, Sewer MB. Sphingosine Regulates the Transcription of CYP17 by Binding to Steroidogenic Factor-1. Endocrinology 147(11):5249-58, 2006.
Ozbay T, Rowan A, Leon A, Patel P, Sewer MB. cAMP-Dependent Sphingosine-1- Phosphate Biosynthesis Induces Human CYP17 Gene Transcription by Activating Cleavage of Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1. Endocrinology 147(3): 1427-37, 2006.