JAK / STAT Signaling

The JAK (Janus kinase)/STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription) signaling pathway transduces stress-activating extracellular chemical signals into cellular responses such as immunity, inflammation, and apoptosis. Cell surface receptors activate JAK proteins, which autophosphorylate, and then phosphorylate the receptor. The STATs are also phosphorylated and activated by the JAKs. Activated STATs homo- or heterodimerize into functional transcription factors, and translocate to the nucleus to initiate target gene transcription. The 4 mammalian JAKs (JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, and TYK2) each recognize different receptors and different STAT proteins. The homo- and heterodimers of the 7 mammalian STATs each have different target genes. JAK/STAT signaling dysregulation commonly occurs in diseases such as atherosclerosis, immunodeficiencies, and cancer.

QIAGEN provides a broad range of assay technologies for JAK/STAT signaling research that enables analysis of gene expression and regulation, epigenetic modification, genotyping, and signal transduction pathway activation. Solutions optimized for JAK/STAT signaling studies include PCR array, miRNA, siRNA, mutation analysis, pathway reporter, chromatin IP, DNA methylation, and protein expression products.