Publications

  1. Park, J.; Heffern, M. C.* Metal- and Redox-Dependent Oxytocin Species Differentially Regulate Invasion and Migration in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. ACS Chemical Biology 2026, 21, 7, 1777–1787. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.6c00328
  2. Carranza, E. J.; Heffern, M. C.†*; Murray, D. T.†* Metal Ion Binding of Vimentin Tail Domain Fragments. ChemBioChem 2026, 27, 9, e70353. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.70353
  3. Park, J.; Heffern, M. C.* Metal Modulation of Oxytocin Structure, Function, and Receptor Interactions. European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 2026, 29, 14, e202500462. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.202500462
  4. Caceres, A.; Shibata, N. M.; Davalos-Gutierrez, C. D.; Sarode, G. V.; Hussan, H.; Bettencourt, M.; Fontes, A.; Zischka, H.; Lutsenko, S.; Heffern, M. C.; Medici, V.* Inactivation of Atp7b copper transporter in intestinal epithelial cells is associated with altered lipid processing and cell growth machinery independent from hepatic copper accumulation and severity of liver histology. Am. J. Pathol. 2026, 196, 2, 407–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2025.09.015
  5. Vanderschoot, K. A.; Padilla, J. P.; Steineman, K. A.; De Caro, C. M.; Wang, Y.; Wang, A.; Heffern, M. C.; Neumann, E. K.* Spatial multiomics combining lipids and gene expression using MALDI ISH MSI. Anal. Chem. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.5c02567
  6. Caceres, A.; Harder, N. H. O.; Padilla, J. P.; Janisse, S. E.; Cole, A. M.; Roedersheimer, S. E.; Heffern, M. C.* High glucose diet induces hepatic iron overload contributing to metabolic dysfunction. iScience 2026, 29, 1, 114441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.114441
  7. Carranza, E. J.†; Murray, D.T; Heffern, M. C.* The important interplay between metal ions and the intermediate filament protein vimentin. JBIC – Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. 2025, 30, 453-464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00775-025-02124-x
  8. Fernandez, R. L.†; Lee, V. J.†; Janisse, S. E.; O’Sullivan, J. J.; Caceres, A.; Heffern, M. C.* Enrichment and functional characterization of copper-binding peptides from food hydrolysates. RSC Adv. 2025, 15, 30697–30710. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5RA05166E
  9. He, Z., Fernandez, R. L., Heffern, M. C., Wang, L.-P.* Computational spectroscopy studies of model ternary complexes of copper(II), C-peptide, and serum albumin using excited state-targeted geometry optimization. Biochemistry 2025, 64, 15, 3404–3417. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.5c00241
  10. He, Q., Koster, H. J., O’Sullivan, J., Ono, S. G., O’Toole, H. J., Leiserowitz, G. S., Heffern, M. C., Carney, R. P.* Integration of label-free surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of extracellular vesicles (EVs) with Raman-tagged labels to enhance ovarian cancer diagnostics. Biosens. Bioelectron. 2025, 288, 117800. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2025.117800
  11. Carranza, E. J., Padilla, J. P., Caceres, A. , Heffern, M. C.* Trace metal micronutrients in the extracellular blood plasma. In Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry. 2025. (Invited Book Chapter) https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119951438.eibc2848
  12. Fernandez, R. L.†; Lee, V. J.†; Heffern, M. C.* Dietary Nutrients: Natural products in relation to metal trafficking and disease pathologies. In Press in Metal Ions in Life Sciences 26: Metal-Containing Molecules and Nanomaterials: From Diagnosis to Therapy (Invited book chapter). https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003361756-6
  13. San Juan, J. A., Chakarawet, K., He, Z., Harder, N. H. O., Fernandez, R. L., Stevenson, M. J., Janisse, S. E., Wang, L., Britt, R. D., Heffern, M. C.* Copper(II) affects the activity of proinsulin C-peptide by forming ternary complexes with serum albumin. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 30, 16726–16738. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c04599
  14. Janisse, S. J., Fernandez, R. L., Heffern, M. C.* Emerging Applications of Mass Spectrometry to Metal-Interacting Biomolecules. Trends Biochem. Sci. 2023, 48, 9, 815-825. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2023.06.006
  15. Sarode, G. V.; Mazi, T. A.; Neier, K.; Shibata, N. M.; Jospin, G.; Harder, N. H. O.; Caceres, A.; Heffern, M. C.; Sharma, A. K.; More, S. K.; Dave, M.; Schroeder, S. M.; Wang, L.; LaSalle, J. M.; Lutsenko, S.; Medici, V.* The role of the intestine in metabolic dysregulation in murine Wilson disease. Hepatology Communications 2023, 7, 10. https://doi.org/10.1097/HC9.0000000000000247
  16. Lee, V..J., Janisse, S.E., Heffern, M. C.* Plant-derived chelators and ionophores as potential therapeutics for metabolic disease. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2023, 52, 3927-3945. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CS00167A
  17. O’Sullivan, J. J.†, Uyeda, K. S.†, Stevenson, M. J., Heffern, M. C.* Investigation of metal modulation of oxytocin structure receptor-mediated signaling. RSC Chem. Biol. 2023, 4, 165-172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CB00225F
  18. O’Sullivan, J. J., Lee, V. J., Heffern, M. C.* Copper-mediated oxidation of imidazopyrazinones inhibits marine luciferase activity. Luminescence. 2023, 38, 216-220. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bio.4415.
  19. Medici, V.; Heffern, M. C. Monitoring and treatment of Wilson disease: progress and challenges. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology 2022, 7, 12, 1063–1065. (Commentary https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(22)00284-9
  20. Lee, V. J., Heffern, M. C.* Structure-activity assessment of flavonoids as modulators of copper transport. Front. Chem., 2022, 10, 972198. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2022.972198.
  21. Janisse, S. E., Sharma, V. A., Caceres, A., Medici, V., Heffern, M. C.* Systematic Evaluation of Copper(II)-Loaded Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography for Selective Enrichment of Copper-Binding Species in Human Serum and Plasma. Metallomics, 2022, 14, mfac059. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mtomcs/mfac059
  22. O’Sullivan, J. J., Heffern, M. C.* Development of an ATP-independent bioluminescent probe for detection of extracellular hydrogen peroxide. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2022, 20, 6231-6238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2OB00436D.
  23. Harder, N. H. O., Lee, H. P., Flood, V. J., San Juan, J. A., Gillette, S. K., Heffern, M. C.* Fatty Acid Uptake in Liver Hepatocytes Induces Relocalization and Sequestration of Intracellular Copper. Front. Mol. Biosci., 2022, 9, 863296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2022.863296.
  24. Choi, S., San Juan, J. A., Heffern, M. C., Stevenson, M. J.* Quantifying the Binding Interactions between Cu(II) and Peptide Residues in the Presence and Absence of Chromophores. J. Vis. Exp. 2022, 182, e63668. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3791/63668
  25. O’Sullivan, J. J., Medici, V., Heffern, M. C.* A caged imidazopyrazinone for selective bioluminescence detection of labile extracellular copper(II). Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 4352-4363. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D1SC07177G.
  26. Hussein, F. A., Janisse, S. E., Heffern, M. C., Kinyua, M., Velazquez, J. M.* Adsorption of Perfluorooctanoic Acid from Water by pH-modulated Brönsted Acid and Base Sites in Mesoporous Hafnium Oxide Ceramics. iScience. 2022, 25, 104138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104138.
  27. Harder, N. H. O.; Hieronimus, B.; Stanhope, K. L.; Shibata, N. M.; Lee, V.; Nunez, M. V.; Keim, N. L.; Bremer, A.; Havel, P. J.; Heffern, M. C.†*; Medici, V.†* Effects of Dietary Glucose and Fructose on Copper, Iron, and Zinc Metabolism Parameters in Humans. Nutrients 2020, 12, 2581. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092581
  28. Olugbeminiyi, O. F.†*, Heffern, M. C.†*, Sanders Johnson, S.†*, Townsend, S. D.†*. What Comes Next? Simple Practices to Improve Diversity in Science. ACS Cent. Sci. 2020, 6, 1231-1240. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.0c00905. (Editorial)
  29. O’Sullivan, J. J.; Harder, N. H. O.; Heffern, M. C.* Detecting liver disease via an endogenous pigment. Nature Biomedical Engineering 2020, 4, 761–762. (News & Views) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-020-0601-2
  30. Stevenson, M. J.; Janisse, S. E.; Tao, L.; Neil, R. L.; Pham, Q. D.; Britt, R. D.; Heffern, M. C.* Elucidation of a Copper Binding Site in Proinsulin C-peptide and Its Implications for Metal-Modulated Activity. Inorganic Chemistry 2020, 59, 13, 9339–9349. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c01212
  31. Stevenson, M. J.; Farran, I. C.; Uyeda, K. S.; San Juan, J. A.; Heffern, M. C.* Analysis of Metal Effects on C-Peptide Structure and Internalization. ChemBioChem 2019, 20, 19, 2447–2453. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.201900172
  32. Stevenson, M. J.†; Uyeda, K. S.†; Harder, N. H.; Heffern, M. C.* Metal-dependent hormone function: the emerging interdisciplinary field of metalloendocrinology. Metallomics 2019, 11, 1, 85–110. (Review Article) https://doi.org/10.1039/C8MT00221E
  33. Stevenson, M. J.; Heffern, M. C.* Sounding Out Dysfunctional Oxygen Metabolism: A Small-Molecule Probe for Photoacoustic Imaging of Hypoxia. Biochemistry 2018, 57, 6, 893–894. (Commentary) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.8b00011
  34. Heffern, M. C.* Diversifying the Glowing Bioluminescent Toolbox. ACS Central Science 2017, 3, 12, 1234–1236. (First Reactions) https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.7b00594
  35. Baldari, S.; Di Rocco, G.; Heffern, M. C.; Su, T. A.; Chang, C. J.; Toietta, G. Effects of Copper Chelation on BRAFV600E Positive Colon Carcinoma Cells. Cancers 2019, 11, 5, 659. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers11050659
  36. Juttukonda, L. J.; Green, E. R.; Lonergan, Z. R.; Heffern, M. C.; Chang, C. J.; Skaar, E. P. Acinetobacter baumannii OxyR Regulates the Transcriptional Response to Hydrogen Peroxide. Infection and Immunity 2019, 87, 1, e00413-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00413-18
  37. Su, T. A.; Shihadih, D. S.; Cao, W.; Detomasi, T. C.; Heffern, M. C.; Jia, S.; Stahl, A.; Chang, C. J. A Modular Ionophore Platform for Liver-Directed Copper Supplementation in Cells and Animals. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2018, 140, 42, 13764–13774. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.8b08014
  38. Aron, A. T.; Heffern, M. C.; Lonergan, Z. R.; Vander Wal, M. N.; Blank, B. R.; Spangler, B.; Zhang, Y.; Park, H. M.; Stahl, A.; Renslo, A. R.; Skaar, E. P.; Chang, C. J.* In vivo bioluminescence imaging of labile iron accumulation in a murine model of Acinetobacter baumannii infection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2017, 114, 48, 12669–12674. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1708747114
  39. Heffern, M. C.†; Park, H.†; Au-Yeung, H.†; Van de Bittner, G. C.; Ackerman, C. M.; Stahl, A.; Chang, C. J.* In vivo bioluminescence imaging reveals copper deficiency in a murine model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2016, 113, 50, 14219–14224. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1613628113
  40. Heffern, M. C.†; Reichova, V.†; Coomes, J. L.; Harney, A. S.; Bajema, E. A.; Meade, T. J.* Tuning Cobalt(III) Schiff Base Complexes as Activated Protein Inhibitors. Inorganic Chemistry 2015, 54, 18, 9066–9074. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b01415
  41. Heffern, M. C.; Velasco, P. T.; Matosziuk, L. M.; Coomes, J. L.; Karras, C.; Ratner, M. A.; Klein, W. L.; Eckermann, A. L.; Meade, T. J.* Modulation of Amyloid-β Oligomerization by Co(III) Schiff Base Complexes. ChemBioChem 2014, 15, 11, 1584–1589. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.201402201
  42. Heffern, M. C.†; Matosziuk, L. M.†; Meade, T. J.* Lanthanide Probes for Bioresponsive Imaging. Chemical Reviews 2014, 114, 8, 4496–4539. https://doi.org/10.1021/cr400477t
  43. Heffern, M. C.; Kurutz, J. W.; Meade, T. J.* Spectroscopic Elucidation of the Inhibitory Mechanism of Cys2His2 Zinc Finger Transcription Factors by Cobalt(III) Schiff Base Complexes. Chemistry – A European Journal 2013, 19, 50, 17043–17053. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201301659
  44. Heffern, M. C.; Yamamoto, N.; Holbrook, R. J.; Eckermann, A. L.; Meade, T. J.* Cobalt Complexes as Promising Therapeutic Agents. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology 2013, 17, 2, 189–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.11.019
  45. Matosziuk, L. M.; Leibowitz, J. H.; Heffern, M. C.; MacRenaris, K. W.; Ratner, M. A.; Meade, T. J.* Structural Optimization of Zn(II)-Activated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Probes. Inorganic Chemistry 2013, 52, 21, 12250–12261. https://doi.org/10.1021/ic400681j
  46. Manus, L. M.; Holbrook, R. J.; Atesin, T. A.; Heffern, M. C.; Harney, A. S.; Eckermann, A. L.; Meade, T. J.* Axial Ligand Exchange of N-Heterocyclic Cobalt(III) Schiff Base Complexes: Molecular Structure and NMR Solution Dynamics. Inorganic Chemistry 2013, 52, 2, 1069–1076. https://doi.org/10.1021/ic302379j
  47. Matosziuk, L. M.; Holbrook, R. J.; Manus, L. M.; Heffern, M. C.; Ratner, M. A.; Meade, T. J. Rational Design of [Co(acacen)L2]+ Inhibitors of Protein Function. Dalton Transactions 2013, 42, 11, 4002–4012. https://doi.org/10.1039/c2dt32565a
  48. Velasco, P. T.; Heffern, M. C.; Sebollela, A.; Popova, I. A.; Lacor, P. N.; Lee, K. B.; Sun, X.; Tiano, B. N.; Viola, K. L.; Eckermann, A. L.; Meade, T. J.; Klein, W. L.* Synapse-Binding Subpopulations of Aβ Oligomers Sensitive to Peptide Assembly Blockers and scFv Antibodies. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 2012, 3, 11, 972–981. https://doi.org/10.1021/cn300122k
  49. Hurtado, R. R.; Harney, A. S.; Heffern, M. C.; Holbrook, R. J.; Holmgren, R. A.; Meade, T. J.* Specific Inhibition of the Transcription Factor Ci by a Cobalt(III) Schiff Base-DNA Conjugate. Molecular Pharmaceutics 2012, 9, 2, 325–333. https://doi.org/10.1021/mp2005577
  50. Beier, C. W.; Cuevas, M. A.**; Brutchey, R. L. Low-Temperature Synthesis of Solid-Solution BaxSr1−xTiO3 Nanocrystals. Journal of Materials Chemistry 2010, 20, 24, 5074–5079. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0jm00845a
  51. Beier, C. W.; Cuevas, M. A.**; Brutchey, R. L. Effect of Surface Modification on the Dielectric Properties of BaTiO3 Nanocrystals. Langmuir 2010, 26, 7, 5067–5071. https://doi.org/10.1021/la9035419
  52. Beier, C. W.; Cuevas, M. A.**; Brutchey, R. L. Room-Temperature Synthetic Pathways to Barium Titanate Nanocrystals. Small 2008, 4, 12, 2102–2106. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.200800761

* Corresponding author    † Equal contribution    ** Maiden name: Cuevas, M. A.