Mortimer Civan, M.D.
Professor of Physiology and Medicine
Business Address:
University of Pennsylvania
A303 Richards
Philadelphia , PA 19104
Phone: 215-898-8773
Fax: 215-573-5851
Email: civan@mail.med.upenn.edu
Education:
Undergraduate:
Columbia
College, New York City
Medical:
Columbia
University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Residency:
Internal
Medicine
Fellowship:
Biophysics; Clinical & Research Fellowship in Nephrology,
Institution:
N.I.H., as
Staff Assoc.; Mass. General Hospital
Board Certification:
Internal
Medicine
Research Interests:
My laboratory is primarily concerned with: (1) the
mechanisms of movement of solutes and water across epithelial
membranes, (2) the regulation of that movement, and (3) the
clinical implications of altering the underlying mechanisms and
regulation. Our current focus is on the mechanisms and regulation
of aqueous humor inflow into, and exit from, the eye, and their
implications for the treatment of glaucoma. Two broad lines of in
vitro work are in progress using the techniques of patch clamping,
molecular biology, fluorescence microscopy and electronic cell
sorting. First, we are seeking to identify the molecular basis for
chloride-channel activity, which likely limits the rate of ciliary
epithelial secretion. Second, we are also testing our current
hypothesis concerning the autocrine and paracrine basis for
purinergic regulation of aqueous humor secretion and efflux. We
are testing our hypotheses, developed on the basis of our in vitro
work, using measurements of intraocular pressure in the mouse.
Selected References:
Civan, M.M. and Shporer, M.: The
physical state of cell Na+.
Curr. Top. Membr. Transp. 34:1-19, 1989.
Mitchell, C.H., Carré, D.A., McGlinn, A.M.,
Stone, R.A. and Civan, M.M.: A release mechanism for stored
ATP in ocular ciliary epithelial cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
(USA) 95:7174-7178, 1998.
Avila, M.Y., Stone, R.A. and Civan, M.M.:
Knockout of A3 Adenosine Receptors Reduces Mouse
Intraocular Pressure. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 43:3021-3026,
2002.
McLaughlin, C.W., Zellhuber-McMillan, S.,
Macknight, A.D.C. and Civan, M.M.: Electron microprobe
analysis of ouabain-exposed ciliary epithelium: PE-NPE cell
couplets form the functional units. Am. J. Physiol.: Cell Physiol.
286:C1376-1389, 2004 Jun; Epub 2004 Feb 04.
Do, C.-W., Peterson-Yantorno, K., Mitchell,
C.H. and Civan, M.M.: cAMP-Activated Maxi-Cl-
Channels in Native Bovine Pigmented Ciliary Epithelial Cells. Am.
J. Physiol.: Cell Physiol. 287:C1003-11, 2004. Epub 2004 Jun 09
10.1152/ajpcell.00175.2004.
Do, C.-W., Lu, W., Mitchell, C.H. and
Civan, M.M.: Inhibition of Swelling-Activated Cl-
Currents by Functional Anti-ClC-3 Antibody in Native Bovine
Non-Pigmented Ciliary Epithelial Cells. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis.
Sci. 46:948-55, 2005.
Karl, M.O., Fleischhauer, J.C., Stamer, W.D.,
Peterson-Yantorno, K., Mitchell, C.H., Stone, R.A. and Civan,
M.M.: Differential P1-Purinergic Modulation of Human Schlemm´s
Canal Inner-Wall Cells. Am. J. Physiol.: Cell Physiol.
288:C784-94, 2005. Epub 2004 Dec 8.
Do, C.W., Peterson-Yantorno, K. and Civan,
M.M.: Swelling-activated Cl- channels support Cl-
secretion by bovine ciliary epithelium. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis.
Sci. 47: 2576-2582, 2006.
Karl, M.O., Peterson-Yantorno, K. and Civan, M.M.:
Cell-specific differential modulation of human trabecular meshwork
cells by selective adenosine receptor agonists. Exp. Eye Res.
84:126-34, 2007. Epub 2006 Oct 30.