Skip navigation

Jon Wolff

Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Genetics

Jon Wolff
Address:
607 Waisman Center
Telephone:
263-5993
Email:
jwolff@wisc.edu
Research Fields:
Molecular Genetics
Clinical Genetics

MD, Johns Hopkins University, 1980

Postdoctoral Research: University of California-San Diego Medical Center, University of California-San Diego

Research Interests

Developing gene therapy approaches for neuromuscular and metabolic diseases

Research Description

The aim of Dr. Wolff’s current research is to develop and refine the ability to directly deliver plasmid DNA into muscle, liver and other tissues through further development of the basic scientific knowledge of how plasmid DNA traverses cell membranes and enters nuclei. Dr. Wolff has grants to study the mechanism by which plasmid DNA enters the cell and reaches the nucleus following transfection, and ways to increase the number of transfected target cells. Dr. Wolff’s data in muscle indicates that plasmid DNA uptake is not due simply to the gross membrane damage that occurs during injection but may actually involve a facilitated, active uptake process. He is exploring several hypotheses concerning the uptake mechanism in muscle and believes that plasmid DNA enters a cell via a natural pathway used by muscle cells to transport an endogenous molecule. Delineation of this pathway will better the understanding of muscle physiology and enable ways to increase DNA uptake efficiency in this tissue.

Representative Publications

  • V Budker, T Budker, G Zhang, V Subbotin, A Loomis, and JA Wolff. 2000. Hypothesis: naked plasmid DNA is taken up by cells in vivo by a receptor-mediated process (Review). The Journal of Gene Medicine 2:76-88.
  • G Zhang, V Budker and JA Wolff. 1999. High levels of foreign gene expression in hepatocytes after tail vein injections of naked plasmid DNA. Human Gene Therapy 10:1735-1737.
  • JJ Ludtke, G Zhang, MG Sebestyen and JA Wolff. 1999. A nuclear localization signal can enhance both the nuclear transport and expression of 1 kb DNA. Journal of Cell Science 112:2033-2041.