Julio Cordero-Morales, PhD
Associate Professor
Translational Research Building
71 S. Manassas Street
Memphis, TN 38163
jcordero@uthsc.edu
Office Phone: 901.448.8206
Lab: 901.448.8205
Fax: 901.448.7126
Education
Licentiate, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela, 2001
Ph.D., Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville,
VA, 2008
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California at San Francisco, 2014
Research Interests
Our research is focused on understanding the biochemical, structural, and cellular mechanisms by which sensory receptors e.g., transient receptor potential and potassium ion channels.contribute to somatosensation. These sensory receptors are polymodal membrane proteins that respond to a broad range of physical e.g., heat, cold, and pressure.and chemical e.g., acid, irritants, and inflammatory mediators.stimuli to depolarize sensory neurons and elicit or intensify inflammatory pain. Specifically, we are interested in determine how different stimuli induce channel activation and identifying regions that specify stimuli detection. Our laboratory follows two main avenues: 1.in vitro biochemical and biophysical approaches to study ion channel regulation in response to different physical and chemical stimuli. 2.in vivo approaches to characterize sensory receptors with novel physiological roles. Our research involves a multidisciplinary approach that includes biochemical procedures, electrophysiological and structural methods together with molecular genetics and behavior experiments.
Representative Publications
- Cordero-Morales J.F, Jogini V, Lewis A, Vásquez V, Cortes D.M, Roux B, and Perozo E 2007). Molecular driving forces determining potassium channel slow inactivation. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology 14: 1062-1069.
- Chakrapani S*, Cordero-Morales JF*, Jogini V, Pan A, Cortes DM, Roux B and Perozo, E 2011). On the structural basis of modal gating behavior in K+ channels. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology 18:67-75. *Denotes equal contribution.
- Gracheva EO*, Cordero-Morales* JF*, González-Carcacía JA, Ingolia NT, Aranguren CI, Manno C, Weissman JS and David Julius 2011). Ganglion-specific splicing of TRPV1 underlies infrared sensation in vampire bats. Nature: 4767358): 88-91 Journal Cover). *Denotes equal contribution.
- Gracheva EO, Ingolia NT, Kelly YM, Cordero-Morales JF, Hollopeter G, Chesler AT, Sánchez EE, Perez JC, Weissman JS, and Julius D 2010). Molecular basis of infrared detection by snakes. Nature 464:1006-1011.
- Cordero-Morales JF*, Gracheva EO* and Julius D 2011). Cytoplasmic ankyrin repeat domains of TRPA1 dictate sensitivity to thermal and chemical stimuli. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108: E1184-E1191. *Denotes equal contribution.
- Cao E, Cordero-Morales JF, Liu B, Qin F, and Julius D 2013). TRPV1 channels are intrinsically heat sensitive and negatively regulated by phosphoinositide lipids. Neuron 77:667-679. 1.
- Velisetty P, Stein RA, Sierra-Valdez F, Vásquez V, Cordero-Morales JF. 2017. Expression and Purification of the Pain Receptor TRPV1 for Spectroscopic Analysis. Scientific Reports, 7: 9861.
- Caires R, Sierra-Valdez F, Millet JRM, Herwig JD, Roan E, Vásquez V, Cordero-Morales JF. 2017. Omega-3 Fatty Acids Modulate TRPV4 Function Through Plasma Membrane Remodeling. Cell Reports, 21: 246-258.