VHL Disease and Renal Cell Cancer

The Haase lab has had a long-standing interest in understanding the pathogenesis of renal malignancies. Professor Haase’s research program started initially with the generation of the first mouse model for von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. This animal model reproduces clinical manifestations of the disease, such as renal cysts, hemangiomas and polycythemia. The Haase group then used advanced mouse genetics to dissect the specific roles of HIF-1 and HIF-2 in the pathogenesis of VHL-associated liver hemangiomas and regulation of glucose and fatty acid metabolism. The VHL mouse model was made freely available through the Jackson Laboratory and has been used by many investigators throughout the world.

Relevant Publications from the Haase Lab

  • Rankin EB, Rha J, Selak MA, Unger TL, Keith B, Liu Q, Haase VH. Hypoxia-inducible factor 2 regulates hepatic lipid metabolism. Mol Cell Biol. 2009 Aug;29(16):4527-38. PubMed PMID: 19528226; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2725738.
  • Rankin EB, Tomaszewski JE, Haase VH. Renal cyst development in mice with conditional inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor. Cancer Res. 2006 Mar 1;66(5):2576-83. PubMed PMID: 16510575; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3514875.
  • Rankin EB, Higgins DF, Walisser JA, Johnson RS, Bradfield CA, Haase VH. Inactivation of the arylhydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (Arnt) suppresses von Hippel-Lindau disease-associated vascular tumors in mice. Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Apr;25(8):3163-72. PubMed PMID: 15798202; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1069599.
  • Biju MP, Neumann AK, Bensinger SJ, Johnson RS, Turka LA, Haase VH. Vhlh gene deletion induces Hif-1-mediated cell death in thymocytes. Mol Cell Biol. 2004 Oct;24(20):9038-47. PubMed PMID: 15456877; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC517905.