Shannon Jay Odelberg

Shannon Jay Odelberg, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Internal Medicine , Adjunct - Neurobiology

Divisions: Cardiovascular Medicine

Research Interests

  • Regeneration
  • Metastasis
  • Tumorigenesis
  • Vascular Biology

Shannon Odelberg, PhD, is a research associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, an investigator in the Molecular Medicine Program, and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

Dr. Odelberg’s laboratory focuses on the signaling pathways that drive tumor establishment, growth, and metastasis and the vascular leak that is associated with inflammatory diseases. Members of his lab and their collaborators have shown that activation of the small GTPase ARF6 plays a role in the signaling pathways that promote uveal and cutaneous melanoma growth and metastasis and vascular leak. By targeting ARF6 or other factors in these signaling pathways, tumor growth and metastasis can be reduced and the vasculature can be stabilized, thus suggesting a new approach for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases.

In the past, Dr. Odelberg studied the cellular and molecular basis of regeneration, focusing primarily on newt limb, spinal cord, and heart regeneration. These regenerative processes are dependent upon an extraordinary degree of cellular plasticity where differentiated cells revert to a progenitor state, proliferate, and then redifferentiate into fully functioning cells that compose the regenerated structure or tissue. Dr. Odelberg and his colleagues showed that the composition of the extracellular matrix changes dramatically during the regeneration process and that the transient regenerative extracellular matrix plays an instructive rather than passive role in the regenerative process.

Dr. Odelberg completed his PhD in molecular genetics and pathology at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Utah, he joined the faculty of the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology.

Education History

Postdoctoral Fellowship University of Utah
 Postdoctoral Fellow
Doctoral Training Virginia Commonwealth University
 PhD
Graduate Training Virginia Commonwealth University
 MS
Undergraduate Weber State College
 BS

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Richards JR, Shin D, Pryor R, Sorensen LK, Sun Z, So WM, Park G, Wolff R, Truong A, McMahon M, Grossmann AH, Harbour JW, Zhu W, Odelberg SJ, Yoo JH (2023). Activation of NFAT by HGF and IGF-1 via ARF6 and its effector ASAP1 promotes uveal melanoma metastasis. Oncogene, 42(35), 2629-2640. (Read full article)
  2. Sun Z, Zhao H, Fang D, Davis CT, Shi DS, Lei K, Rich BE, Winter JM, Guo L, Sorensen LK, Pryor RJ, Zhu N, Lu S, Dickey LL, Doty DJ, Tong Z, Thomas KR, Mueller AL, Grossmann AH, Zhang B, Lane TE, Fujinami RS, Odelberg SJ, Zhu W (2022). Neuroinflammatory disease disrupts the blood-CNS barrier via crosstalk between proinflammatory and endothelial-to-mesenchymal-transition signaling. Neuron, 110(19), 3106-3120.e7. (Read full article)
  3. Truong A, Yoo JH, Scherzer MT, Sanchez JMS, Dale KJ, Kinsey CG, Richards JR, Shin D, Ghazi PC, Onken MD, Blumer KJ, Odelberg SJ, McMahon M (2020). Chloroquine Sensitizes GNAQ/11-mutated Melanoma to MEK1/2 Inhibition. Clin Cancer Res, 26(23), 6374-6386. (Read full article)
  4. Gebremariam T, Zhang L, Alkhazraji S, Gu Y, Youssef EG, Tong Z, Kish-Trier E, Bajji A, de Araujo CV, Rich B, French SW, Li DY, Mueller AL, Odelberg SJ, Zhu W, Ibrahim AS (2020). Preserving Vascular Integrity Protects Mice against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 64(8). (Read full article)
  5. Richards JR, Yoo JH, Shin D, Odelberg SJ (2020). Mouse models of uveal melanoma: Strengths, weaknesses, and future directions. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res, 33(2), 264-278. (Read full article)
  6. Musi E, Schwartz GK, Yoo JH, Odelberg SJ, Li DY, Bonner MY, Selvakumar P, Rao S, Gilbert LC, Elsey J, Arbiser JL (2019). Tris DBA palladium is an orally available inhibitor of GNAQ mutant uveal melanoma in vivo. Oncotarget, 10(43), 4424-4436. (Read full article)
  7. Yoo JH, Brady SW, Acosta-Alvarez L, Rogers A, Peng J, Sorensen LK, Wolff RK, Mleynek T, Shin D, Rich CP, Kircher DA, Bild A, Odelberg SJ, Li DY, Holmen SL, Grossmann AH (2019). The Small GTPase ARF6 Activates PI3K in Melanoma to Induce a Prometastatic State. Cancer Res, 79(11), 2892-2908. (Read full article)
  8. Grossmann AH, Zhao H, Jenkins N, Zhu W, Richards JR, Yoo JH, Winter JM, Rich B, Mleynek TM, Li DY, Odelberg SJ (2016). The small GTPase ARF6 regulates protein trafficking to control cellular function during development and in disease. Small GTPases, 10(1), 1-12. (Read full article)
  9. Zhu W, Shi DS, Winter JM, Rich BE, Tong Z, Sorensen LK, Zhao H, Huang Y, Tai Z, Mleynek TM, Yoo JH, Dunn C, Ling J, Bergquist JA, Richards JR, Jiang A, Lesniewski LA, Hartnett ME, Ward DM, Mueller AL, Ostanin K, Thomas KR, Odelberg SJ, Li DY (2017). Small GTPase ARF6 controls VEGFR2 trafficking and signaling in diabetic retinopathy. J Clin Invest, 127(12), 4569-4582. (Read full article)
  10. Yoo JH, Shi DS, Grossmann AH, Sorensen LK, Tong Z, Mleynek TM, Rogers A, Zhu W, Richards JR, Winter JM, Zhu J, Dunn C, Bajji A, Shenderovich M, Mueller AL, Woodman SE, Harbour JW, Thomas KR, Odelberg SJ, Ostanin K, Li DY (2016). ARF6 Is an Actionable Node that Orchestrates Oncogenic GNAQ Signaling in Uveal Melanoma. Cancer Cell, 29(6), 889-904. (Read full article)
  11. Mercer SE, Odelberg SJ, Simon HG (2013). A dynamic spatiotemporal extracellular matrix facilitates epicardial-mediated vertebrate heart regeneration. Dev Biol, 382(2), 457-69. (Read full article)
  12. Yang M, Odelberg SJ, Tong Z, Li DY, Looper RE (2013). Cationic dirhodium carboxylate-catalyzed synthesis of dihydropyrimidones from propargyl ureas. Tetrahedron, 69(27-28), 5744-5750. (Read full article)
  13. Grossmann AH, Yoo JH, Clancy J, Sorensen LK, Sedgwick A, Tong Z, Ostanin K, Rogers A, Grossmann KF, Tripp SR, Thomas KR, DSouza-Schorey C, Odelberg SJ, Li DY (2013). The small GTPase ARF6 stimulates β-catenin transcriptional activity during WNT5A-mediated melanoma invasion and metastasis. Sci Signal, 6(265), ra14. (Read full article)
  14. Zukor KA, Kent DT, Odelberg SJ (2011). Meningeal cells and glia establish a permissive environment for axon regeneration after spinal cord injury in newts. Neural Dev, 6, 1. (Read full article)
  15. Calve S, Odelberg SJ, Simon HG (2010). A transitional extracellular matrix instructs cell behavior during muscle regeneration. Dev Biol, 344(1), 259-71. (Read full article)
  16. Vinarsky V, Atkinson DL, Stevenson TJ, Keating MT, Odelberg SJ (2005). Normal newt limb regeneration requires matrix metalloproteinase function. Dev Biol, 279(1), 86-98. (Read full article)
  17. Odelberg SJ (2004). Unraveling the molecular basis for regenerative cellular plasticity. PLoS Biol, 2(8), E232. (Read full article)
  18. McGann CJ, Odelberg SJ, Keating MT (2001). Mammalian myotube dedifferentiation induced by newt regeneration extract. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 98(24), 13699-704. (Read full article)
  19. Odelberg SJ, Kollhoff A, Keating MT (2000). Dedifferentiation of mammalian myotubes induced by msx1. Cell, 103(7), 1099-109. (Read full article)