Wang Lab

Dr. Xiao-Jing Wang, M.D., Ph.D., is currently a John S. Gates endowed chair and Director of head & neck cancer research program at UCD, Professor in Department of Pathology, and has joint appointments in the departments of Otolaryngology, Dermatology, and Craniofacial Biology at UCD. Dr. Wang’s laboratory has developed the first genetically engineered mouse model that develops head& neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) with full penetrance. These lesions mimic human HNSCC at genetic and pathology levels. HNSCC represents the 6th most common cancer type worldwide and its prognosis has not been improved in the past 20 years. Dr. Wang has brought the best expertise to this campus to continuously develop various HNSCC mouse models, which will add an invaluable resource to this campus for evaluating the mechanisms and efficacy of the existing clinical trials for HNSCC prevention and treatments. Research in Wang laboratory uses both mouse models and human cancer samples for cross-species comparisons. The current activities in Wang laboratory include: 1) Identification of biomarkers for diagnosis and therapy for human head and neck cancer; 2) Molecular mechanisms of head & neck cancer including the properties of cancer stem cells, transcriptional machinery, microRNA functions; 3) Experimental therapeutics of head and neck cancer with different genetic alterations; 4) tumor microenvironment including the role of inflammation, fibroblast activation and angiogenesis in cancer. In addition to cancer biology, Dr. Wang’s laboratory studies molecular mechanisms of inflammatory skin diseases and normal stem cell fate determination during embryonic skin development.

For more about the Head and Neck research program, click here.

Selected Publications:

1. Li AG, Wang D, Feng X, Wang XJ (2004). Latent TGFb1 overexpression in keratinocytes results in a severe psoriasis-like skin disorder. EMBO J, 23:1770-81. PMID: 15057277 PMCID: PMC394237

2. Han G, Lu S-L, Li AG, He W, Corless CL, Kulesz-Martin M, Wang XJ (2005). Distinct mechanisms of TGF1-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis during skin carcinogenesis. JCI, 115: 1714-1723 PMID: 15937546

3. Lu SL, Herrington H, Reh D, Weber S, Bornstein S, Wang D, Li AG, Tang CF, Siddiqui Y, Nord J, Andersen P, Corless CL, Wang XJ (2006). Loss of transforming growth factor-type II receptor promotes metastatic head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma. Genes Dev, 20:1331-1342. PMID: 16702406 PMCID: PMC1472907

4. Han GW, Li AG, Liang YY, Owens P, He W, Lu S, Yoshimatsu Y, Wang D, tenDijke P, Lin X, Wang XJ (2006). Smad7-induced-catenin degradation alters epidermal appendage development. Dev Cell, 11, 301-312. PMID: 16950122

5. Hoot K, Lighthall J, Han G, Lu SL, Li AG, Ju W, Kulesz-Martin M, Bottinger E, Wang XJ (2008). Keratinocyte-Specific Smad2 ablation results in increased epithelial-mesenchymal transition during skin cancer formation and progression. J Clin Invest, 118:2722-32. PMID: 18618014 PMCID: PMC2447925

6. Bornstein S., White R., Malkoski SP, Oka M, Han G, Cleaver T, Reh D, Anderson P, Gross N, Olson S, Deng C, Lu S, Wang XJ (2009). Smad4 Loss in Mice Causes Spontaneous Head and Neck Cancer with Increased Genomic Instability and Inflammation. J Clin Invest, 119:3408-19. PMID: 19841536

Contact Information:

Phone: (303) 724-3001

Fax: (303) 724-3712

Email: xj.wang@ucdenver.edu