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Janet Mertz

Professor of Oncology

Address:

713A McArdle

Telephone:

262-2383

Email:

mertz@oncology.wisc.edu

Research Fields:

Cancer Genetics

Gene Expression

Microbial Genetics

Research Interests

Transcriptional regulation, DNA tumor viruses, hormone receptors and breast cancer

Research Description

One of our group’s long-term interests involves transcriptional regulation of the genes of the primate DNA tumor viruses simian virus 40 (SV40), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that have been implicated in a variety of human cancers. We have found that members of the steroid/thyroid/retinoid hormone receptor superfamily play direct roles in regulating transcription and replication of SV40 and HBV, indicating that appropriate analogues of ligands to these receptors may prove useful as anti-viral drugs for the treatment of acute and chronic infections by some viruses. Recently, we have identified factors that play crucial roles in the induction of EBV out of latency. Understanding regulation of the latent-lytic switch may lead to methods to control diseases caused by EBV.

Our group’s second area of research concerns the roles of the human estrogen-related receptor a (ERRa) in regulation of estrogen responsiveness and breast carcinogenesis. We have found that ERRa can function either as a down-modulator or a constitutive activator of estrogen response element-directed transcription, with its activity likely regulated in part by post-translational modifications occurring via ErbB2 signaling pathways. We have also determined that ERRa is likely a major player in the subset of breast cancers lacking estrogen receptor activity. Thus, functional analysis of ERRa may lead to the development of additional tools for prognosis and therapeutic treatments, especially for ER-negative breast cancers.

Representative Publications

• Guang, S., Felthauser, A.M. and Mertz, J.E. 2005. Binding of hnRNP L to the Pre-mRNA Processing Enhancer of the Herpes Simplex Virus Thymidine Kinase Gene Enhances Both Polyadenylation and Nucleocytoplasmic Export of Intronless mRNAs. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: August.
• Guang, S. and Mertz, J.E. 2005. Pre-mRNA Processing Enhancer (PPE) Elements from Intronless Genes Play Additional Roles in mRNA Biogenesis Than Do Ones from Intron-Containing Genes. Nucleic Acids Res. 33:2215-2226.
• Kraus, R. J., Perrigoue, J. G., and Mertz, J. E. 2003. ZEB Negatively Regulates the Lytic-Switch BZLF1 Gene Promoter of Epstein-Barr Virus. J. Virol., 77:199-207.
• Yu, X. and Mertz, J.E. 2003. Distinct Modes of Regulation of Transcription of Hepatitis B Virus by the Nuclear Receptors HNFa and COUP-TF1. J. Virol. 77:2489-2499.
• Ariazi, E.A., Clark, G.M. and Mertz, J.E. 2002. Estrogen-related Receptor a and Estrogen-related Receptor g Associate with Unfavorable and Favorable Biomarkers, Respectively, in Human Breast Cancer. Cancer Res. 62:6510-6518.