Jianqiang Wu, MD, MS

Member, Division of Experimental Hematology & Cancer Biology
Cancer Biology and Neural Tumors Program
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

jianqiang.wu@cchmc.org

About

Biography

I have been a researcher for more than 25 years, and I started working at Cincinnati Children’s in 2003. My research areas of interest include transcriptional factors and microRNA in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) related plexiform neurofibroma (PNF) formation, the influence of microenvironment on PNF formation and pre-clinical testing of PNF.

There is no effective therapy for PNF. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment, but sometimes surgery is impossible due to the invasive nature of PNFs, their large size and their association with critical anatomic structures.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Selumetinib (Koselugo™), a cytostatic MEK inhibitor that shrinks about 70 percent of tumors in Nf1fl/fl; DhhCre neurofibroma-bearing mice and in inoperable PNF patients. Unfortunately, tumors regrow after stopping drug treatment. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies and MEK-independent targets for the treatment of PNFs are urgently needed. My goal is to find a cure for PNF.

One of my lab’s groundbreaking discoveries is developing a PNF mouse model and a method to monitor the drug efficacy for pre-clinical testing on this mouse’s PNFs by measuring tumor volumes on MRI images.

My research has been published in respected journals, such as Cancer Cell, Cell Stem Cell, Science Advances, New England Journal of Medicine, Acta Neuropathologica, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Cancer Research and Oncogene.

Services and Specialties

Interests

Preclinical therapeutic trial on neurofibroma; cancer stem cell(s) in neurofibroma

Research Areas

Publications

Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor Receptor Contributes to Plexiform Neurofibroma Initiation. Pundavela, J; Hall, A; Dinglasan, SA; Choi, K; Rizvi, TA; Trapnell, BC; Wu, J; Ratner, N. Cancers. 2025; 17:905.

C5aR plus MEK inhibition durably targets the tumor milieu and reveals tumor cell phagocytosis. Perrino, MR; Ahmari, N; Hall, A; Jackson, M; Na, Y; Pundavela, J; Szabo, S; Woodruff, TM; Dombi, E; Kim, MO; Köhl, J; Wu, J; Ratner, N. Life Science Alliance. 2024; 7:e202302229.

Neurofibromatosis Type I: Preclinical Modeling. Wu, J; Ratner, N. The RASopathies. : Springer Nature; Springer Nature; 2024.

A critical role of RUNX1 in governing megakaryocyte-primed hematopoietic stem cell differentiation. Wang, C; Tu, Z; Cai, X; Wang, W; Davis, AK; Nattamai, K; Paranjpe, A; Dexheimer, P; Wu, J; Huang, FL; Geiger, H; Huang, G; Zheng, Y. Blood Advances. 2023; 7:2590-2605.

Combining SOS1 and MEK Inhibitors in a Murine Model of Plexiform Neurofibroma Results in Tumor Shrinkage. Jackson, M; Ahmari, N; Wu, J; Rizvi, TA; Fugate, E; Kim, MO; Dombi, E; Arnhof, H; Boehmelt, G; Düchs, MJ; Long, CJ; Maier, U; Trapani, F; Hofmann, MH; Ratner, N. The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics. 2023; 385:106-116.

Runx1/3-driven adaptive endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways contribute to neurofibromagenesis. Na, Y; Hall, A; Yu, Y; Hu, L; Choi, K; Burgard, JA; Szabo, S; Huang, G; Ratner, N; Wu, J. Oncogene: Including Oncogene Reviews. 2023; 42:1038-1047.

Multiple Nf1 Schwann cell populations reprogram the plexiform neurofibroma tumor microenvironment. Kershner, LJ; Choi, K; Wu, J; Zhang, X; Perrino, M; Salomonis, N; Shern, JF; Ratner, N. JCI insight. 2022; 7:e154513.

P2RY14 cAMP signaling regulates Schwann cell precursor self-renewal, proliferation, and nerve tumor initiation in a mouse model of neurofibromatosis. Cram, JP; Wu, J; Coover, RA; Rizvi, TA; Chaney, KE; Ravindran, R; Cancelas, JA; Spinner, RJ; Ratner, N. eLife. 2022; 11:e73511.

Cdkn2a Loss in a Model of Neurofibroma Demonstrates Stepwise Tumor Progression to Atypical Neurofibroma and MPNST. Chaney, KE; Perrino, MR; Kershner, LJ; Patel, AV; Wu, J; Choi, K; Rizvi, TA; Dombi, E; Szabo, S; Largaespada, DA; Ratner, N. Cancer Research. 2021; 80:4720-4730.

Mechanisms of stearoyl CoA desaturase inhibitor sensitivity and acquired resistance in cancer. Oatman, N; Dasgupta, N; Arora, P; Choi, K; Gawali, MV; Gupta, N; Parameswaran, S; Salomone, J; Reisz, JA; Lawler, S; Weirauch, MT; D'Alessandro, A; Komurov, K; Dasgupta, B. Science Advances. 2021; 7:eabd7459.