Jianxin You, Ph.D.

Office Address:
Department of Microbiology
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
201C Johnson Pavilion
3610 Hamilton Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6076

TEL 215-573-6781
LAB 215-573-6040
FAX 215-898-9557
jianyou@mail.med.upenn.edu

RESEARCH SUMMARY

High-risk type human papillomaviruses (HPVs) such as HPV-16 and -18 are associated with cervical, anogenital, and head and neck cancers. Research in our laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of papillomavirus-host interaction that allow high-risk HPVs to establish persistent infection and to induce host malignant progression. Our previous work identified the bromodomain protein Brd4 as a key receptor for bovine papillomavirus to gain a foothold on mitotic chromosomes. This study provided the first insight into the cellular machinery essential for papillomavirus retention in host cells. Our recent study demonstrated that Brd4 also plays an important role in the life cycle of Merkel cell polyomavirus, which is a novel human polyomavirus that has recently been discovered in Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but highly aggressive skin cancer. Our ongoing studies aim to identify novel cellular targets of human papillomavirus and Merkel cell polyomavirus and to understand how the molecular interplays between these two oncogenic DNA tumor viruses and their host targets contribute to tumorigenesis.

Brd4 is also the target of a genetic translocation t(15;19) that defines a highly lethal carcinoma. It has been linked to several other cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia and breast cancer. Using oncogenic DNA tumor viruses and cancer-associated genetic mutations as molecular probes, we are investigating how dysfunction of this important epigenetic reader could lead to human cancers.