Department of Biomedical Sciences
University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Veterinärplatz 1A-1210 Vienna, Austria
Tel: +43-1-25077-5690
Fax: +43-1-25077-5690
Email: mathias.mueller@vetmeduni.ac.at
Website: www.jak.stat.at

Research interests 

The focus of our laboratory is on the Jak-Stat signaling pathway and its direct or indirect interconnection with the host response to infection, inflammation and carcinogenesis. A total of four Janus kinases (Jak1-3, Tyk2) and seven Stats (Stat1-4, Stat5a, Stat5b, Stat6) act in various combinations to stimulate appropriate nuclear responses to cytokines and growth factors. Upon ligand binding, receptor-associated Jaks phosphorylate recruited Stats thereby initiating nuclear translocation and DNA binding. This linear pathway constitutes the canonical Jak-Stat signaling. Jaks also initiate non-Stat signaling pathways and show kinase-independent functions. In addition to phosphorylation, Stats exert biological activity through additional or alternative modifications. Jaks and Stats also show non-receptor associated functions. These activities are summarized as non-canonical. We employ mouse reverse genetics to study signaling involved in infection and immunity and consequences of non-canonical Jak-Stat activities. The molecular focus on Tyk2 and Stat1/3. For these molecules the lab has generated a comprehensive collection of mutant mice enabling to study loss of function, tissue-specificity and non-canonical functions

Selected publications
 

Radwan, M., Stiefvater, R., Grunert, T., Sharif, O., Miller, I., Marchetti-Deschmann, M., Allmaier, G., Gemeiner, M., Knapp, S., Kovarik, P., Müller, M. and Strobl, B. Tyrosine kinase 2 controls interleukin-1b production at the translational level. J Immunol in press (2010).

Strobl, B., Bubic, I., Bruns, U., Steinborn, R., Lajko, R., Kolbe, T., Karaghiosoff, M., Kalinke, U., Jonjic, S. and Müller, M. Novel functions of Tyk2 in the antiviral defense against murine cytomegalovirus. J Immunol 175, 4000-4008, (2005).
 

Maritano, D., Sugrue, M.L., Tininini, S., Dewilde, S., Strobl, B., Fu, X., Murray-Tait, V., Chiarle, R. and Poli, V. The STAT3 isoforms alpha and beta have unique and specific functions. Nat Immunol 5, 401-409, (2004).
 

Karaghiosoff, M., Steinborn, R., Kovarik, P., Kriegshäuser, G., Baccarini, M., Donabauer, B., Reichart, U., Kolbe, T., Bogdan, C., Leanderson, T., Levy, D., Decker, T., and Müller, M. Central role for type I interferons and Tyk2 in lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxin shock. Nat Immunol 4, 471-477, (2003).