Jennifer L. Herington, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

jennifer.l.herington@vanderbilt.edu

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Faculty Appointments
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Education
Ph.D., Molecular, Cellular and Systemic Physiology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IllinoisB.S., Physiology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
Office Address
2215B Garland Ave, 1125 Light Hall, Nashville, TN
Nashville, TN 37232
Research Description
The Herington laboratory is focused on interventional approaches to regulate uterine contractions and efforts to better understand the mechanism of uterine contractility. Current treatments are limited in scope and efficacy, often adversely affecting both the mother and her offspring. Our laboratory has established a drug discovery strategy to identifying novel regulators of uterine myometrial contractility. Our laboratory is equipped for high-throughput screening of small-molecules using an in vitro cell-based assay, testing of hit-molecules in an ex vivo tissue contractility assay and pre-clinical in vivo testing in mouse models of preterm labor. Our laboratory utilizes mouse and human uterine myometrial tissue samples, mouse models of preterm labor, and transgenic mouse models of delayed parturition.

Our laboratory collaborates with Dr. Giorgio's laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at VU to develop and test novel drug delivery systems (DDSs) for uterine-targeted delivery of drugs to inhibit premature uterine contractions. We feel that tocolytic DDSs are an ideal strategy to minimize side-effects which precludes use of current tocolytics for greater than 24-72 hours.

My commitment to a career focused on maternal-fetal interactions during pregnancy and labor was initiated during my doctoral studies, where I established in vivo mouse models to examine the important effect of the embryo on maternal uterine changes necessary for the establishment of pregnancy. Specifically, use of mouse models of artificially-induced decidualization, allowed examination into the molecular and paracrine signaling between the embryo and uterus during the processes of implantation and decidualization. I have continued interests and enthusiasm in research centered on maternal-fetal interactions during early pregnancy. Through current collaborations with Dr. Bibhash C. Paria's, I have been fortunate to assist with research projects focused on: 1) improved understanding of the process of blastocyst implantation using mouse and hamster models and 2) exploring new therapeutic strategies for attenuating endotoxin-induced early pregnancy defects.

While a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Jeff Reese, I evaluated the mechanisms responsible for the delayed parturition phenotype of cyclooxygenase-1 knockout (Cox-1KO) mice. While unhindered uterine contractile function was observed in Cox-1KO pregnant females, an impaired cervical dilation phenotype was determined to contribute to parturition phenotype of these mice. Dr. Reese and I continue collaborative efforts to examine uterine and cervical function in mouse models of delayed parturition. Specifically, we utilize in vivo Raman spectroscopy to assess in vivo assessment cervical molecular changes during normal and impaired cervical remodeling in mouse models used to study pregnancy.
Research Keywords
pregnancy, parturition, uterine contractility, myometrium, drug discovery, drug delivery, uterotonic, tocolytic
Clinical Research Keywords
Preterm birth, preterm labor, uterine atony, postpartum hemorrhage
Publications
Siricilla S, Hansen CJ, Rogers JH, De D, Simpson CL, Waterson AG, Sulikowski GA, Crockett SL, Boatwright N, Reese J, Paria BC, Newton J, Herington JL. Arrest of mouse preterm labor until term delivery by combination therapy with atosiban and mundulone, a natural product with tocolytic efficacy. BioRxiv. 2023 Jun 6/8/2023; PMID: 37333338, PMCID: PMC10274706, PII: 2023.06.06.543921, DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.06.543921, ISSN: 2692-8205.

Masson LE, O'Brien CM, Gautam R, Thomas G, Slaughter JC, Goldberg M, Bennett K, Herington J, Reese J, Elsamadicy E, Newton JM, Mahadevan-Jansen A. In vivo Raman spectroscopy monitors cervical change during labor. Am J Obstet Gynecol [print-electronic]. 2022 Aug; 227(2): 275.e1-275.e14-275.e14. PMID: 35189092, PMCID: PMC9308703, PII: S0002-9378(22)00121-1, DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2022.02.019, ISSN: 1097-6868.

Hansen CJ, Siricilla S, Boatwright N, Rogers JH, Kumi ME, Herington J. Effects of Solvents, Emulsions, Cosolvents, and Complexions on Ex Vivo Mouse Myometrial Contractility. Reprod Sci [print-electronic]. 2022 Feb; 29(2): 586-95. PMID: 33852137, PMCID: PMC8782813, PII: 10.1007/s43032-021-00576-5, DOI: 10.1007/s43032-021-00576-5, ISSN: 1933-7205.

Siricilla S, Iwueke CC, Herington JL. Drug discovery strategies for the identification of novel regulators of uterine contractility. Curr Opin Physiol [print-electronic]. 2020 Feb; 13: 71-86. PMID: 32864532, PMCID: PMC7451233, DOI: 10.1016/j.cophys.2019.10.012, ISSN: 2468-8673.

Siricilla S, Knapp KM, Rogers JH, Berger C, Shelton EL, Mi D, Vinson P, Condon J, Paria BC, Reese J, Sheng Q, Herington JL. Comparative analysis of myometrial and vascular smooth muscle cells to determine optimal cells for use in drug discovery. Pharmacol Res [print-electronic]. 2019 Aug; 146: 104268. PMID: 31078743, PMCID: PMC6889064, PII: S1043-6618(19)30245-2, DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2019.104268, ISSN: 1096-1186.

Masson LE, O'Brien CM, Pence IJ, Herington JL, Reese J, van Leeuwen TG, Mahadevan-Jansen A. Dual excitation wavelength system for combined fingerprint and high wavenumber Raman spectroscopy. Analyst. 2018 Dec 12/3/2018; 143(24): 6049-60. PMID: 30420993, PMCID: PMC6295447, DOI: 10.1039/c8an01989d, ISSN: 1364-5528.

McCarthy R, Martin-Fairey C, Sojka DK, Herzog ED, Jungheim ES, Stout MJ, Fay JC, Mahendroo M, Reese J, Herington JL, Plosa EJ, Shelton EL, England SK. Mouse models of preterm birth: suggested assessment and reporting guidelines. Biol. Reprod. 2018 Nov 11/1/2018; 99(5): 922-37. PMID: 29733339, PMCID: PMC6297318, PII: 4992298, DOI: 10.1093/biolre/ioy109, ISSN: 1529-7268.

Bruner-Tran KL, Mokshagundam S, Herington JL, Ding T, Osteen KG. Rodent Models of Experimental Endometriosis: Identifying Mechanisms of Disease and Therapeutic Targets. Curr Womens Health Rev. 2018 Jun; 14(2): 173-88. PMID: 29861705, PMCID: PMC5925870, PII: CWHR-14-173, DOI: 10.2174/1573404813666170921162041, ISSN: 1573-4048.

Yarboro MT, Durbin MD, Herington JL, Shelton EL, Zhang T, Ebby CG, Stoller JZ, Clyman RI, Reese J. Transcriptional profiling of the ductus arteriosus: Comparison of rodent microarrays and human RNA sequencing. Semin. Perinatol [print-electronic]. 2018 Jun; 42(4): 212-20. PMID: 29910032, PMCID: PMC6064668, PII: S0146-0005(18)30027-2, DOI: 10.1053/j.semperi.2018.05.003, ISSN: 1558-075X.

Robuck MF, O'Brien CM, Knapp KM, Shay SD, West JD, Newton JM, Slaughter JC, Paria BC, Reese J, Herington JL. Monitoring uterine contractility in mice using a transcervical intrauterine pressure catheter. Reproduction [print-electronic]. 2018 May; 155(5): 447-56. PMID: 29500186, PMCID: PMC5903945, PII: REP-17-0647, DOI: 10.1530/REP-17-0647, ISSN: 1741-7899.

Nguyen JQM, McWade M, Thomas G, Beddard BT, Herington JL, Paria BC, Schwartz HS, Halpern JL, Holt GE, Mahadevan-Jansen A. Development of a modular fluorescence overlay tissue imaging system for wide-field intraoperative surgical guidance. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) [print-electronic]. 2018 Apr; 5(2): 21220. PMID: 29531968, PMCID: PMC5833937, PII: 17276SSRRR, DOI: 10.1117/1.JMI.5.2.021220, ISSN: 2329-4302.

Herington JL, O'Brien C, Robuck MF, Lei W, Brown N, Slaughter JC, Paria BC, Mahadevan-Jansen A, Reese J. Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1 (Ptgs1) mediates the timing of parturition in mice despite unhindered uterine contractility. Endocrinology [print-electronic]. 2017 Sep 9/29/2017; PMID: 29029054, PII: 4210435, DOI: 10.1210/en.2017-00647, ISSN: 1945-7170.

McCoy AM, Herington JL, Stouch AN, Mukherjee AB, Lakhdari O, Blackwell TS, Prince LS. IKKß Activation in the Fetal Lung Mesenchyme Alters Lung Vascular Development but Not Airway Morphogenesis. Am. J. Pathol [print-electronic]. 2017 Sep 9/18/2017; PMID: 28923684, PII: S0002-9440(17)30547-3, DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2017.08.013, ISSN: 1525-2191.

O'Brien CM, Herington JL, Brown N, Pence IJ, Paria BC, Slaughter JC, Reese J, Mahadevan-Jansen A. In vivo Raman spectral analysis of impaired cervical remodeling in a mouse model of delayed parturition. Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 7/28/2017; 7(1): 6835. PMID: 28754971, PMCID: PMC5533720, PII: 10.1038/s41598-017-07047-5, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-07047-5, ISSN: 2045-2322.

Herington JL, Guo Y, Reese J, Paria BC. Gene profiling the window of implantation: Microarray analyses from human and rodent models. J Reprod Health Med [print-electronic]. 2016 Dec; 2(Suppl 2): S19-S25. PMID: 28239559, PMCID: PMC5321051, DOI: 10.1016/j.jrhm.2016.11.006.

Lei W, Ni H, Herington J, Reese J, Paria BC. Alkaline phosphatase protects lipopolysaccharide-induced early pregnancy defects in mice. PLoS ONE. 2015; 10(4): e0123243. PMID: 25910276, PMCID: PMC4409290, PII: PONE-D-15-04551, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123243, ISSN: 1932-6203.

Herington JL, Swale DR, Brown N, Shelton EL, Choi H, Williams CH, Hong CC, Paria BC, Denton JS, Reese J. High-Throughput Screening of Myometrial Calcium-Mobilization to Identify Modulators of Uterine Contractility. PLoS ONE. 2015; 10(11): e0143243. PMID: 26600013, PMCID: PMC4658040, PII: PONE-D-15-12311, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143243, ISSN: 1932-6203.

Lei W, Herington J, Galindo CL, Ding T, Brown N, Reese J, Paria BC. Cross-species transcriptomic approach reveals genes in hamster implantation sites. Reproduction [print-electronic]. 2014 Dec; 148(6): 607-21. PMID: 25252651, PMCID: PMC4230993, PII: REP-14-0388, DOI: 10.1530/REP-14-0388, ISSN: 1741-7899.

Bruner-Tran KL, Herington JL, Duleba AJ, Taylor HS, Osteen KG. Medical management of endometriosis: emerging evidence linking inflammation to disease pathophysiology. Minerva Ginecol. 2013 Apr; 65(2): 199-213. PMID: 23598784, PMCID: PMC3718308, PII: R09133452, ISSN: 0026-4784.

Herington JL, Glore DR, Lucas JA, Osteen KG, Bruner-Tran KL. Dietary fish oil supplementation inhibits formation of endometriosis-associated adhesions in a chimeric mouse model. Fertil. Steril [print-electronic]. 2013 Feb; 99(2): 543-50. PMID: 23103017, PMCID: PMC3582352, PII: S0015-0282(12)02307-2, DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.10.007, ISSN: 1556-5653.

Herington JL, Bruner-Tran KL, Lucas JA, Osteen KG. Immune interactions in endometriosis. Expert Rev Clin Immunol. 2011 Sep; 7(5): 611-26. PMID: 21895474, PMCID: PMC3204940, DOI: 10.1586/eci.11.53, ISSN: 1744-8409.

Herington JL, Crispens MA, Carvalho-Macedo AC, Camargos AF, Lebovic DI, Bruner-Tran KL, Osteen KG. Development and prevention of postsurgical adhesions in a chimeric mouse model of experimental endometriosis. Fertil. Steril [print-electronic]. 2011 Mar 3/15/2011; 95(4): 1295-301.e1. PMID: 20934690, PMCID: PMC3038191, PII: S0015-0282(10)02547-1, DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2010.09.017, ISSN: 1556-5653.

Herington JL, Bany BM. Do molecular signals from the conceptus influence endometrium decidualization in rodents?. J. Exp. Zool. B Mol. Dev. Evol. 2009 Dec 12/15/2009; 312(8): 797-816. PMID: 19551814, PMCID: PMC2844778, DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.21308, ISSN: 1552-5015.

Herington JL, Underwood T, McConaha M, Bany BM. Paracrine signals from the mouse conceptus are not required for the normal progression of decidualization. Endocrinology [print-electronic]. 2009 Sep; 150(9): 4404-13. PMID: 19520782, PMCID: PMC2736086, PII: en.2009-0036, DOI: 10.1210/en.2009-0036, ISSN: 1945-7170.

Herington JL, Bi J, Martin JD, Bany BM. Beta-catenin (CTNNB1) in the mouse uterus during decidualization and the potential role of two pathways in regulating its degradation. J. Histochem. Cytochem [print-electronic]. 2007 Sep; 55(9): 963-74. PMID: 17533218, PII: jhc.7A7199.2007, DOI: 10.1369/jhc.7A7199.2007, ISSN: 0022-1554.

Herington JL, Bany BM. The conceptus increases secreted phosphoprotein 1 gene expression in the mouse uterus during the progression of decidualization mainly due to its effects on uterine natural killer cells. Reproduction. 2007 Jun; 133(6): 1213-21. PMID: 17636175, PMCID: PMC2613481, PII: 133/6/1213, DOI: 10.1530/REP-07-0085, ISSN: 1470-1626.

Herington JL, Bany BM. Effect of the conceptus on uterine natural killer cell numbers and function in the mouse uterus during decidualization. Biol. Reprod [print-electronic]. 2007 Apr; 76(4): 579-88. PMID: 17151350, PMCID: PMC2275212, PII: biolreprod.106.056630, DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod.106.056630, ISSN: 0006-3363.

Available Postdoctoral Position Details
Posted: 9/16/2024

A new postdoctoral position is available immediately in the laboratory of Dr. Jennifer Herington at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which is focused on the discovery of novel therapeutics and the use of targeted drug delivery to inhibit uterine myometrial contractility for prevention of preterm labor. The available position is to conduct exciting studies that will advance at a rapid pace to characterize the performance of new drug delivery systems (DDSs) to suppress uterine contractions that lead to preterm birth. This is a collaborative project between an industrial partner that will fabricate drug conjugates for in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo testing in the laboratories of Drs. Herington and Todd Giorgio (Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, whose laboratory specializes on developing and testing advanced DDSs).

Candidates should have a recent Ph.D. degree with a strong background in pharmacology and a strong publication record. Individuals with experience in vitro cell-based assays, in vivo pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies will be given preference. Effectiveness in these high-level tasks will require the following skills (among others): primary cell isolation, cell culture, administration (intrauterine, intravenous, and subcutaneous) of treatments to mice, HPLC, LC-MS, sample collection at necropsy. We value self-motivated, enthusiastic and collaborative team members.

Interested individuals should submit a single pdf including: a cover letter containing a summary of their prior work and a short paragraph of research interests along with a CV with information for 3 references.

Join us in developing a unique solution to a significant medical need. Work with us at highly ranked institutions with a track record of success at interdisciplinary interfaces. Combined research expenditures for VU and VUMC places the Vanderbilt research community in the top tier of all research universities. While leading exceptional research teams, our investigators are committed to mentoring over 600 graduate (Ph.D.) students and over 300 postdoctoral fellows in programs, departments and divisions distributed across the entire School of Medicine. With a metro population of approximately 2.1 million people, Nashville has been ranked in the top 10 best cities in the U.S. by Travel+Leisure magazine and was named in the top 10 places for young professionals to live by Forbes. VUMC is committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion of all students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and staff to the benefit of all members of our community. We are intentional about recruiting, retaining, and supporting diverse and underrepresented groups and we encourage individuals from all populations to apply to our postdoctoral positions. VUMC is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

Contact:  Jennifer Herington, PhD

                Assistant Professor Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics

                Department of Pharmacology

                Jennifer.l.herington@vumc.org