ZFIN Person: McConnell, Sean

ZFIN ID: ZDB-PERS-130104-2

ZFIN ID: ZDB-PERS-130104-2

McConnell, Sean

Email:	smcconnell@peds.bsd.uchicago.edu
URL:	http://kidscancer.uchicago.edu/page/present-members
Affiliation:	de Jong Lab
Address:	University Of Chicago Department of Pediatrics, Hematology/Oncology Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery 5230 LB14 900 East 57th Street Chicago, IL 60637
Country:	United States
Phone:	(773) 702-5247
Fax:	(773) 702-4523
ORCID ID:	0000-0002-0988-5373

BIOGRAPHY AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

My primary interests are in hematology and molecular genetics. As a postdoc I have initiated projects studying hematopoietic stem cells in zebrafish, and histocompatibility has been an important aspect of this model. Recently, we discovered extensive structural variation within zebrafish MHC loci, including altogether different genes mapping to the various haplotypes. These findings raise fundamental questions regarding mechanisms that preserve ancient sequence variation within the genomes of only a subset of individuals.

PUBLICATIONS

McConnell, S.C., Hernandez, K.M., Andrade, J., de Jong, J.L.O. (2023) Immune gene variation associated with chromosome-scale differences among individual zebrafish genomes. Scientific Reports. 13:77777777

Wcisel, D.J., Dornburg, A., McConnell, S.C., Hernandez, K.M., Andrade, J., de Jong, J.L.O., Litman, G.W., Yoder, J.A. (2022) A highly diverse set of novel immunoglobulin-like transcript (NILT) genes in zebrafish indicates a wide range of functions with complex relationships to mammalian receptors. Immunogenetics. 75(1):53-69

DiNapoli, S.E., Martinez-McFaline, R., Gribbin, C.K., Wrighton, P.J., Balgobin, C.A., Nelson, I., Leonard, A., Maskin, C.R., Shwartz, A., Quenzer, E.D., Mailhiot, D., Kao, C., McConnell, S.C., de Jong, J.L.O., Goessling, W., Houvras, Y. (2020) Synthetic CRISPR/Cas9 reagents facilitate genome editing and homology directed repair. Nucleic acids research. 48(7):e38

McConnell, S.C., Hernandez, K.M., Wcisel, D.J., Kettleborough, R.N., Stemple, D.L., Yoder, J.A., Andrade, J., de Jong, J.L. (2016) Alternative haplotypes of antigen processing genes in zebrafish diverged early in vertebrate evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 113(34):E5014-23

Dirscherl, H., McConnell, S.C., Yoder, J.A., de Jong, J.L. (2014) The MHC class I genes of zebrafish. Developmental and comparative immunology. 46(1):11-23

McConnell, S.C., Restaino, A.C., and de Jong, J.L. (2014) Multiple divergent haplotypes express completely distinct sets of class I MHC genes in zebrafish. Immunogenetics. 66(3):199-213

NON-ZEBRAFISH PUBLICATIONS
Hock T.D., Liby K, Wright M.M., McConnell S., Schorpp-Kistner M., Ryan T.M., and Agarwal A. (2007) JunB and junD regulate human heme oxygenase-1 gene expression in renal epithelial cells. J. Biol. Chem. 282(9): 6875-86

Huo Y., McConnell S.C., Liu S.R., Yang R., Zhang T.-T., Sun C.-W., Wu L.-C., and Ryan T.M. (2009) Humanized mouse model of Cooley's anemia. J. Biol. Chem. 284(8): 4889-4896

Huo Y., McConnell S.C., and Ryan T.M. (2009) Preclinical transfusion-dependent humanized mouse model of beta-thalassemia major. Blood. 113(19): 4763-4770.

Huo Y., McConnell S.C., Liu S.R., Zhang T.-T., Yang R., Ren J.X., and Ryan T.M. (2010) Humanized mouse models of Cooley's anemia: correct fetal to adult hemoglobin switching, disease onset, and pathology. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1202: 45-51

McConnell S.C., Huo Y., Liu S.R., and Ryan T.M. (2011) Human globin knockin mice complete fetal to adult hemoglobin switching in postnatal development. Mol. Cell. Biol. 31(4): 876-83

Liu S.R., McConnell S.C., and Ryan T.M. (2013) Erythroid development in the absence of adult hemoglobin. Mol. Cell. Biol. 33(11): 2241-2251