Judy Leatherman

Faculty

Professor

Email judith.leatherman@unco.edu
Phone 970-351-2453
Location Ross Hall 2510
Fax 970-351-2335
Address 501 20th St, Campus Box 92, Greeley, CO 80639
Office Hours M 2:30-4:00 W 10:00-11:30

Education

PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 2003
Area of Study: Cell and Molecular Biology

BS, Eastern Mennonite University, 1992
Area of Study: Biology and Chemistry

Professional Experience & Affiliations

Professor, University of Northern Colorado
School of Biological Sciences (2024 – Present)

Research Expertise & Interests

Adult Stem Cell Biology

My lab studies the tissue stem cells that support spermatogenesis in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. This tissue is a leading model system to study how adult stem cells are maintained by the in vivo microenvironment in which they live–the stem cell niche. Drosophila provides a genetically tractable organism where we can study the characteristics of adult stem cells and the niche signals that maintain them, in the hopes that our basic research will reveal conserved aspects of stem cell biology relevant to the stem cells that live in our own bodies.

Our most recent work has focused on a family of genes called the ABC Transporters, which encode transmembrane proteins that pump toxins and other substrates into and out of cells. We have discovered several pumps that are required for stem cell maintenance, and we are working to determine why those proteins are important in the stem cell population.

Comparative Genomics

My lab is involved with the Genomics Education Partnership, a nationwide collaboration of faculty in bioinformatics. As part of this project, I work with independent study undergraduate students to carefully map the location and structure of genes of interest in poorly annotated species, and these results are then used in our collaborative work for comparative genomics investigations. Our projects have included diverse species within the Drosophila genus, Diorhabda tamarisk beetle species used in biological control projects in the US southwest, and the endangered Puerto Rican parrot Amazona vittata.

Areas of Interest

My research is in stem cell biology. My lab studies adult stem cells in the specialized microenvironment where they reside in the body, called the “niche”. We are interested in how stem cells are maintained in an undifferentiated state over the lifetime of the organism, and how the niche influences the choice between staying as a stem cell (“self-renewing”) or undergoing differentiation.

As a model system, my lab utilizes the well-defined stem cell niche in the testis of the fruit fly Drosophila. Here, stem cell activity leads to continual sperm production by male flies. We use classical and modern approaches for in vivo genetic manipulation, as well as standard molecular biology, biochemistry, and tissue culture approaches to explore the molecular basis of niche functioning. I also plan to initiate a project investigating the similarities between cancer cells and normal stem cells.

Publications

  • Bicanovsky, G. N., Senkow, K. J., McColl, C., Mierisch, J., Agrimson, K. S., Long, L. J., Leatherman, J., Rele, C. P., Reed, L. K. (2025). Gene model for the ortholog of Sik3 in Drosophila mojavensis. Micropublication Biology.. https://doi.org/10.17912/micropub.biology.001032.
  • Shaffer,C, …Leatherman, J, …Elgin, SA (83 authors)., A Course-Based Research Experience: How Benefits Change with Increased Investment in Instructional Time. CBE Life Sciences, 2014. 13(1): 111-130.
  • Leatherman, J.L. and S. DiNardo, Germline self-renewal requires cyst stem cells, while stat regulates niche adhesion in Drosophila testes. Nature Cell Biology, 2010, 12(8): 806-11. with cover
  • Leatherman, J.L. and S. Dinardo, Zfh-1 controls somatic stem cell self renewal in the Drosophila testis and nonautonomously influences germline stem cell self-renewal. Cell Stem Cell, 2008, 3(1): 44-54.
  • Leatherman, J.L., L. Levin, J. Boero, and T.A. Jongens, germ cell-less acts to repress transcription during the establishment of the Drosophila germ cell lineage. Current Biology, 2002, 12(19): 1681-5.
  • Leatherman, J.L., K.H. Kaestner, and T.A. Jongens, Identification of a mouse germ cell-less homologue with conserved activity in Drosophila. Mech Dev, 2000, 92(2): 145-53.
  • Kelly, C., A.J. Chin, J.L. Leatherman, D.J. Kozlowski, and E.S. Weinberg, Maternally controlled (beta)-catenin-mediated signaling is required for organizer formation in the zebrafish. Development, 2000, 127(18): 3899 911.
  • Robertson, S.E., T.C. Dockendorff, J.L. Leatherman, D.L. Faulkner, and T.A. Jongens, germ cell-less is required only during the establishment of the germ cell lineage of Drosophila and has activities which are dependent and independent of its localization to the nuclear envelope. Dev Biol, 1999, 215(2): 288-97.
  • Frietze, S. and Leatherman, J. Examining the process of de novo gene birth: An educational primer on “Integration of new genes into cellular networks, and their structural maturation”. Genetics, 2014. 196(3): 593-9.
  • Leatherman, J. Stem cells supporting other stem cells. Frontiers in Genetics, 2013. 4: 257.
  • Leatherman, J.L. and T.A. Jongens, Transcriptional silencing and translational control: key features of early germline development. Bioessays, 2003, 25(4): 326-35.
  • Leatherman, J., Dankwah, S., Daulton, T., Lusk, B., Maity, S., Ramos, R., Smith, C., Wipf, I., 66th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, “ABC Transporter genes are required for maintenance of the Drosophila male germline stem cells,” Genetics Society of America, San Diego, CA. (March 20, 2025).
  • Velazquez Ulloa, N., Burg, M., DiAngelo, J., Kadlec, L., Leatherman, J., Leung, W., Mistry, H., Nagengast, A., Rele, C., Sandlin, K., Spokony, R., Toering Peters, S., Red, L., 66th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, “The Genomics Education Partnership: A Community of Practice Empowering Faculty to Provide Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences,” Genetics Society of America, San Diego, CA. (March 20, 2025).
  • December 2014, Colorado Drosophila Group, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
  • November 2012, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
  • October 2011, Biology Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
  • April 2010, 51st Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Washington D.C. (talk)
  • March 2010, Widener University, Chester, PA
  • November 2009, Princeton University Developmental Biology Colloquium, Princeton, NJ
  • September 2009, Cold Spring Harbor Stem Cell Biology Meeting, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
  • May 2009, Lerner Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
  • May 2009, Midatlantic Regional Meeting of the Society for Developmental Biology, College Park, MD
  • April 2014, Kennedy, R., and Leatherman, J. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition induction by zfh-1. Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society, Colorado Chapter, Pueblo, CO.
  • March 2014, Elgin, S., Bazinet, C., Bedard, J., Burg, M., DiAngelo, J., Jones, C., Kadlec, L., Leatherman, J., Mistry, H. Nagengast, A., Reed, L., Reeves, N., Sanford, J., Small, C., Smith, C. Zhou, L., Shaffer, C., Leung, W., and Lopatto, D. The Genomics Education Partnership: Implementing a Research-Based Genomics Project for Undergraduates. 55th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA.
  • March 2014, Hammer, K., and Leatherman, J. The receptor tyrosine kinase Pvr in the Drosophila testis stem cell niche. 55th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA.
  • March 2014, Major, J., and Leatherman, J. BMP signaling is required in the Drosophila testis cyst stem cells. 55th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA.
  • April 2013, Elgin, S., Burg, M., DiAngelo, J., Haberman, A, Jones, C, Kadlec, L., Key, S., Leatherman, J, McNeil, G., Mistry, H, Nagengast, A., Paetkau, D., Parrish, S., Reed, L., Schroeder, S., Smith, S., Wawersik, M., Zhou, L., Lopatto, D.The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP): Bringing Genomics Research into Undergraduate Classrooms, 54th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Washington, D.C..
  • April 2013, Elgin, S., Burg, M., DiAngelo, J., Haberman, A, Jones, C, Kadlec, L., Key, S., Leatherman, J, McNeil, G., Mistry, H, Nagengast, A., Paetkau, D., Parrish, S., Reed, L., Schroeder, S., Smith, S., Wawersik, M., Zhou, L., Shaffer, C., and Leung, W. Evolution of a heterochromatic domain, the Muller F element, in Drosophila / Sophophora, 54th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Washington, D.C..
  • April 2013, Hammer, K, Johnson, K, and Leatherman, J. PVR is a receptor tyrosine kinase that plays a role in Drosophila testis cyst stem cells, 54th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Washington, D.C..
  • April 2012, Overturf, E., and Leatherman, J. The role of zfh-1 in the cyst stem cells of the Drosophila testis. 53rd Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Chicago, IL.
  • April 2011, Leatherman, J. and DiNardo, S. stat primarily regulates adhesion to the niche, and not self-renewal in the Drosophila testis germline, 52st Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA.
  • October 2008, Leatherman, J., and DiNardo, S., Zfh-1 controls somatic stem cell self-renewal in the Drosophila testis, and non-autonomously influences germline stem cell self-renewal. Cold Spring Harbor Germ Cells Meeting, Cold Spring Harbor, NY.
  • July 2008, Leatherman, J., and DiNardo, S., Zfh-1 controls somatic stem cell self-renewal in the Drosophila testis, and non-autonomously influences germline stem cell self-renewal. 67th Annual Society for Developmental Biology Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
  • June 2008, Leatherman, J., and DiNardo, S., Zfh-1 controls somatic stem cell self-renewal in the Drosophila testis, and non-autonomously influences germline stem cell self renewal. 6th Annual International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
  • February 2008, Leatherman, J., and DiNardo, S., Zfh-1 controls somatic stem cell self-renewal in the Drosophila testis, and non-autonomously influences germline stem cell self-renewal. Keystone Symposia, Tumor Suppressors and Stem Cell Biology, Vancouver, British Columbia.