Steven Yellon, PhD Professor
Department of Physiology
Center for Perinatal Biology
School of Medicine
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, CA 92350
Phone: (909) 558-43250, extension 45208
The research mission of my laboratory is to understand neuroendocrine immune processes that are involved in biological timekeeping and the process of parturition. Research interests include neuroendocrine immune system interactions, circadian rhythms, and mechanism of parturition. Investigations in my laboratory focus on the neuroimmunological mechanism for ripening of the cervix and initiation of labor. Photoperiod is known to control the time of day of birth in a variety of species. Diverse components of the process of cervix remodeling and birth have recently become unified under a single mechanism involving the initiation of a local inflammatory response in the cervix and uterus. Studies in mice have proven useful to test the hypothesis that a local leukocyte-mediated immune response, perhaps driven by neural signals, mediates the process that initiates birth. Defining a role for innervation and immune cell trafficking in remodeling of the cervix and the regulation of uterine contractile activity before birth is a research goal of the laboratory. Ultimately, studies of the mechanism timing birth are expected to lead to an understanding of preterm labor and delayed parturition.
Yellon, S.M. Daily melatonin treatments regulate the circadian melatonin rhythm in the adult Djungarian hamster. J. Biol. Rhythms 11: 4-13, 1996.
Mackler A.M., G. Iezza, M.R. Akin, P. McMillan, and S.M. Yellon. Macrophage Trafficking in the Uterus and Cervix Precedes Parturition in the Mouse. Biol. Reprod. 61: 879-883, 1999.
Horton, T.H. and S.M. Yellon. Aging, reproduction, and the melatonin rhythm in the Siberian hamster. J Biol Rhythms 16: 243-53, 2001.
Gorman, M.R., S.M. Yellon, T.M. Lee. Temporal organization of the suprachiasmatic nuclei in hamsters with split circadian rhythms. J Biol Rhythms 16: 552-563, 2001.
Yellon, S.M. and L.T. Tran. Photoperiod, reproduction and immunity in select strains of inbred mice. J Biol Rhythms 16: 65-75, 2002
Bilbo, S.D., F.S. Dhabhar, K. Viswanathan, A. Light. S.M. Yellon, and R.J. Nelson. Short day lengths augment stress-induced leukocyte trafficking and stress-induced enhancement of skin immune function. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci 99: 4067-4072, 2002.
Hadley, A.H., L.T. Tran, and S.M. Yellon. Sex differences in photoperiod control of antigen-specific primary and secondary humoral immunity in Siberian hamsters. J Neuroimmunology 128: 39-48, 2002.
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Last Revised: Tue, Jun 27, 2006