Research
Siegfried Janz, M.D.
Professor of Pathology
Laboratory: 1046 Medical Laboratories
Voice: 319-335-9986
Email: siegfried-janz@uiowa.edu
Research Program Overview
After obtaining his medical degree from the University of Leipzig, Germany, where he also received his board-certification in Clinical Immunology, Siegfried Janz joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, Maryland, to study the pathogenesis of immunoglobulin-producing tumors of terminally differentiated B-lymphocytes in laboratory mice. In the years at NCI, his research interest in mouse models of human B-cell and plasma-cell neoplasms was shaped.
In 2007 he relocated his laboratory to The University of Iowa, where his research is currently focused on three projects. The first project – supported by 1R01CA151354-01 from the NCI – takes advantage of two complementary, unbiased, genetic-forward screenings in a Myc-transgenic mouse model of human plasma-cell neoplasia to enhance our understanding of the genetic pathways underlying malignant plasma-cell transformation. The second project – supported by grant award agreement 2010-1 from the International Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF) – concerns the development of a transgenic mouse model of human WM. The third project – supported by a senior research award from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) – uses genetically engineered mice for the preclinical validation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL-6, for translational myeloma research.
All three projects rely on transgenic mice that were generated in the Janz Laboratory. The Research Projects section of this website attempts to describe in more detail how the mice will be utilized to study mechanisms of neoplastic B-cell and plasma-cell development, learn about tumor biology and genetics, and assess new intervention approaches for the benefit of human cancer patients. The Selected Links section of this website provides additional information on major sponsors of B-cell and plasma-cell tumor research, whose generous support of the Janz lab is gratefully acknowledged: NCI, IWMF and MMRF.
Recent Publications
Takizawa M, Kim JS, Tessarollo L, McNeil N, Waldschmidt TJ, Casellas R, Ried T and Janz S. Genetic reporter system for oncogenic Igh-Myc translocations in mice. Oncogene 29(28):4113-4120, 2010.
Han SS, Yun H, Son DJ, Tompkins VS, Peng L, Chung ST, Kim JS, Park ES and Janz S. NF-κB/STAT3/PI3K signaling crosstalk in iMycΕμ B lymphoma. Mol Cancer 9:97, 2010.
de Jong D and Janz S. Anaplastic plasmacytoma of mouse – establishing parallels between subtypes of mouse and human plasma cell neoplasia. J Pathol 221(3):242-247, 2010.
Zingone A, Cultraro CM, Shin DM, Bean CM, Morse HC 3rd, Janz S and Kuehl WM. Ectopic expression of wild-type FGFR3 cooperates with MYC to accelerate development of B-cell lineage neoplasms. Leukemia 24(6):1171-1178, 2010.
Rutsch S, Neppalli VT, Shin DM, DuBois W, Morse HC III, Goldschmidt H and Janz S. IL-6 and MYC collaborate in plasma cell tumor formation in mice. Blood 115(9):1746-1754, 2010.