Wolfgang-Michael Franz

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wolfgang-Michael Franz (born December 16, 1959 in Munich ) is a German internist, cardiologist and university professor at the Medical University of Innsbruck . He is known for his work in the field of stem cell research and the stem cell law in Germany, furthermore on special internal intensive care medicine , cell regeneration after myocardial infarction and in chronic heart failure , transplantation of stem cells in the infarct model, clinical studies on stem cell therapy after myocardial infarction and chronic heart failure.

Life

Franz studied medicine at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich from 1979 to 1986 . He received his doctorate there in 1986 with magna cum laude on the subject of genetic markers of essential hypertension : Investigation of the activity of the Na + -Li + counter-transport system on human erythrocytes . Franz expanded his university education as part of a grant from the German Research Foundation on gene therapy at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) from 1986 to 1989 and continued his experience of heart muscle-specific gene expression in transgenic animal models at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry , Munich -Martinsried (virus research) 1989-91. His clinical career began with stations at the German Heart Center Munich (cardiology) 1991–92, at the University of Heidelberg (internal medicine) 1992–96 and at the Medical University of Lübeck 1996–2001. His specialist qualifications include 1997 as a specialist in internal medicine, in 2000 the specialization “cardiology” and in 2007 the additional qualification “special internal intensive medicine”. Franz completed various stays abroad, including 1984 at the University Hospital in Porto Alegre , 1985 at the University Hospital Rio de Janeiro and at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Johannesburg, from 1986 to 1989 at the Department of Biology, University of California , San Diego (UCSD) and in 1994 on Institut Gustave Roussy , Villejuif. Franz received his habilitation in 1999 at the Medical University of Lübeck on the subject of molecular diagnostics and the approach to somatic gene therapy for dystrophin- associated dilative cardiomyopathy .

The clinical career includes assistant doctor activities at various clinics from 1991 to 1997, senior doctor activities from 1997 to 2013 at the Medical University of Lübeck and the Großhadern Medical Clinic and Polyclinic of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . His clinical-medical tasks include cardiology, rhythmology , pulmonology , endocrinology , nephrology , gastroenterology , toxicology , interventional cardiology, echocardiography , interventional cardiology, internal intensive care medicine.

In 2013, Franz followed his call as a university professor at the Medical University of Innsbruck. There he took over the management of the Clinic for Internal Medicine III, Cardiology and Angiology.

Scientific contribution

The scientific orientation of the working group "Molecular Cardiology, Gene and Stem Cell Therapy" around Franz deals with the following main topics:

  • Forward programming and purification of cardiovascular cell types
  • Dual stem cell therapy: preclinical and clinical trials
  • Mechanisms for stem cell mobilization and homing: molecular imaging
  • Heart regeneration and repair: Molecular cell tracking.

The spectrum ranges from basic scientific approaches with pluripotent ( induced pluripotent , embryonic , pluripotent ) stem cells to decode cardiovascular signaling pathways and purification of cardiovascular precursor cells for cell therapeutic approaches and tissue engineering to preclinical approaches with adult stem cells (regenerator cells) from the bone marrow cells (regenerator cells) . Substances to improve mobilization (e.g. G-CSF, PTH, erythropoietin) and homing (DPP-IV inhibitors, antidiabetic agents) are administered by the body's own regenerator cells, which are currently being used to prevent ischemic cardiomyopathy in patients after acute myocardial infarction in "investigator -initiated clinical studies “(SITAGRAMI, C-Cure) are tested for their therapeutic potential.

Forward programming of pluripotent stem cells

This focus is aimed at understanding the developmental pathways of embryonic cardiovascular genesis in the model of pluripotent stem cell lines. Franz's team researched methods of converting pluripotent stem cells into cardiovascular progenitor cells or subtypes such as ventricular or pacemaker cells via gene expression or chemical induction , and called this process forward programming . Attempts have also been made to isolate cardiovascular subtype cells by using cell type-specific promoters that control certain marker genes . After characterizing cells isolated in this way, they can potentially be used for tissue engineering in order to generate heart muscle tissue or cell transplants and thus support the rebuilding of missing heart muscles. To avoid the risk of teratoma formation, pluripotent cells were differentiated from cardiovascular progenitor cells. The latter allow new cells for heart muscle cells , smooth muscles and endothelial cell types . Pacemaker cells are generated from pluripotent cells with the aim of using them in the future as biological pacemakers for patients with cardiac arrhythmias ( sick sinus syndrome ).

Contributions to the public discussion of stem cell research

Before the legal regulation for the handling of embryonic stem cells, Franz worked on the generation of embryonic stem cells from blastocysts after in vitro fertilization . The aim was to obtain heart muscle cells from embryonic stem cells. He repeatedly expressed himself in the German press about the restrictive conditions in the Stem Cell Act (2002) by international comparison , also in connection with the more far-reaching and thus contradicting compromise of the EU research ministers on the promotion of stem cell projects, which subsequently led to a positive EU- Vote led (2006). Due to his critical remarks, an amendment to the law was achieved with a change in the key date regulation for the import of stem cells (2008).

Membership in national and international scientific associations

  • Founder and spokesman of the stem cells working group of the German Society for Cardiology - Heart and Circulatory Research (DGK), spokesman 2004–2007, 2010–2012
  • Principle Investigator in the Munich Heart Alliance (MHA), since 2011
  • Principle Investigator at the German Center for Cardiovascular Research , since 2011
  • Spokesman for the "Experimental Heart Failure" cluster of the German Society for Cardiology - Heart and Circulatory Research (DGK), spokesman from 2004 to 2010; Deputy Speaker 2001–2004
  • German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ), Advisory Board since it was founded in 2006
  • Founding member of the working group "Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering" of the German Society for Cardiology - Heart and Circulatory Research - DGK, speaker 1999–2001
  • International Society for Heart Research (ISHR), European Section (member)
  • German Society for Gene Therapy (member)
  • European Society for Gene Therapy (ESC) (member), Working Group on Cellular Biology of the Heart (member)

honors and awards

  • 1986 DFG Award for Research Fellowship in Molecular Biology
  • 1993 Oskar Lapp Research Prize of the German Society for Cardiovascular Research, Heidelberg, topic: “Characterization of a regulatory DNA sequence with developmental and cardiac muscle-specific activity in a transgenic mouse model”.
  • 1997 Young Investigator Award from the American College of Angiology, (O. Müller). Topic: The 2.3 kb SMHC promoter directs vascular-specific gene expression in transgenic mice.
  • 2006 lecture award at the annual conference of the German Society for Stem Cell Research, Cologne, (R. David). Topic: "MesP1 is a key factor in cardiovascular differentiation of ES cells".
  • 2007 Travel Award from the Weinstein Conference in Indianapolis, USA, (M. Zaruba). Topic: "Parathyroid hormone treatment after myocardial infarction in mice ameliorates late ischemic cardiomyopathy by enhanced homing of CD45 + / CD34 + / CXCR4 + stem cells"
  • 2007 Poster Award Winner, 3rd International Russell Ross Symposium, Ulm. Topic: "Primary hyperparathyroidism is associated with mobilization of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells". (S. Brunner)
  • 2009 Poster Award of the German Society of Physiology, DGP, (Hans Theiss)

Publications

List of publications

Research Gate publications

PubMed publications

Selection of the most important publications

David R, Jarsch V, Schwarz F, Nathan P, Gegg M, Lickert H, Franz WM. Induction of MesP1 by Brachyury (T) generates the common multipotent cardiovascular stem cell. Cardiovasc Res. 2011 Jun 1. [Epub ahead of print]

Huber BC, Brunner S, Segeth A, Nathan P, Fischer R, Zaruba MM, Vallaster M, Theiss HD, David R, Gerbitz A, Franz WM. Parathyroid hormone is a DPP-IV inhibitor and increases SDF-1-driven homing of CXCR4 + stem cells into the ischaemic heart. Cardiovasc Res. 2011 Jun 1; 90 (3): 529-37. Epub 2011 Jan 18.

Zaruba MM, Theiss HD, Vallaster M, Mehl U, Brunner S, David R, Fischer R, Krieg L, Hirsch E, Huber B, Nathan P, Israel L, Imhof A, Herbach N, Assmann G, Wanke R, Mueller- Hoecker J, Steinbeck G, Franz WM. Synergy between CD26 / DPP-IV inhibition and G-CSF improves cardiac function after acute myocardial infarction. Cell Stem Cell 2009 Apr 3; 4 (4): 313-23.

David R, Brenner C, Stieber J, Brunner S, Schwarz F, Rupp R, Müller-Höcker J, Franz WM. MesP1 drives vertebrate cardiovascular differentiation via Dkk-1 mediated blockage of wnt signaling. Nat Cell Biol 2008 Mar; 10 (3): 338-45. Epub 2008 Feb 24.

Theiss HD, David R, Engelmann MG, Barth A, Schotten K, Naebauer M, Reichart B, Steinbeck G, Franz WM. Circulation of CD34 + progenitor cell populations in patients with idiopathic dilated and ischaemic cardiomyopathy (DCM and ICM). Eur Heart J 2007 May; 28 (10): 1258-64. Epub 2007 Mar29.

Engelmann MG, Theiss H, Hennig C, Huber A, Wintersperger BJ, Werle A, Schoenberg SO, Steinbeck G, Franz WM. Autologous bone marrow stem cell mobilization induced by Granulocyte colony stimulating factor after subacute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing late revascularization: final results from the G-CSF-STEMI (Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction) trial. JACC 2006 Oct 17; 48 (8): 1712-21. Epub 2006 Sep 11.

Deindl E, Zaruba MM, Brunner S, Huber B, Mehl U, Assmann G, Hoefer IE, Mueller-Hoecker J, Franz WM. G-CSF administration after myocardial infarction (MI) in mice attenuates late ischemic cardiomyopathy by enhanced arteriogenesis. FASEB J. 2006 May; 20 (7): 956-8. Epub 2006 Mar 29.

David R, Groebner M, Franz WM. Magnetic cell sorting purification of differentiated embryonic stem cells stably expressing truncated human CD4 as surface marker. Stem Cells 2005 Apr; 23 (4): 477-82. Erratum in: Stem Cells. 2005 Jun-Jul; 23 (6): 861.

Franz WM, Müller M, Müller, OJ, Herrmann R, Rothmann T, Cremer M, Cohn RD, Voit T, Katus HA. X-linked dilated cardiomyopathy: Nonsense mutation of dystrophin exon 29 leads to an in-frame deletion of the rod domain disrupting its interaction with the myocardial sarcoglycan complex. The Lancet 355 (9217): 1781-85, 2000.

Müller M, Fleischmann BK, Selbert S, Müller OJ, Ji GJ, Endl E, Middeler G, Schlenke P, Wobus AM, Hescheler J, Katus HA, Franz WM. Selection of ventricular-like cardiomyocytes from ES cells in vitro. FASEB J 14: 2540-2548, 2000.

Interviews

Selection:

  • Biomedicine. Schizophrenic situation (interview with Wolfgang-Michael Franz) . In: Der Spiegel . No. 31 , 2006 ( online - July 31, 2006 ).

Press

Selection:

Radio and television

Franz repeatedly appears as a specialist in stem cell research and therapy in radio and television reports and discussions (selection):

  • Conversation with Prof. Wolfgang Franz, cardiologist, on stem cell research. Bayerischer Rundfunk, February 2008
  • Progress or Frankenstein: How do you feel about stem cell research? Bayerischer Rundfunk, February 2, 2008
  • The best of the radio world / hybrid embryos. Bayerischer Rundfunk, April 2, 2008
  • IQ special: stem cells. Bayerischer Rundfunk, April 2008
  • IQ special: stem cells (discussion). Bayerischer Rundfunk, April 2008
  • Of chimeras and petri dishes. News from stem cell research. Bayerischer Rundfunk 2, June 2008
  • IQ - Science and Research / Bundestag decision on stem cell research. Bayerischer Rundfunk 2, August 2008
  • Studio talk about stem cell research. Bayerischer Rundfunk 2, April 2009

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert David, Wolfgang-Michael Franz: From Pluripotency to Distinct Cardiomyocyte Subtypes . In: Physiology , 27, 2012, pp. 119-129.
  2. ^ Robert David, Juliane Stieber, Evelyn Fischer, Stefan Brunner, Christoph Brenner, Susanne Pfeiler, Florian Schwarz, Wolfgang-Michael Franz: Forward programming of pluripotent stem cells towards distinct cardiovascular cell types . In: Cardiovascular Research , 2009, 84, pp. 263-272
  3. ↑ Julia Jeannine Jung, Britta Husse, Christian Rimmbach, Stefan Krebs, Juliane Stieber, Gustav Steinhoff, Andreas Dendorfer, Wolfgang-Michael Franz, Robert David: Programming and Isolation of Highly Pure Physiologically and Pharmacologically Functional Sinus-Nodal Bodies from Pluripotent Stem Cells . In: Stem Cell Reports , Vol. 2, pp. 592-605
  4. ^ R. David, C. Brenner, J. Stieber, F. Schwarz, S. Brunner, M. Vollmer, E. Mentele, J. Müller-Höcker, S. Kitajima, H. Lickert, R. Rupp, W.- M. Franz: MesP1 drives vertebrate cardiovascular differentiation through Dkk-1-mediated blockade of Wnt-signaling . In: Nature Cell Biology , 2008, vol. 10, 3.
  5. ↑ Robert David, Veronica Barbara Jarsch, Florian Schwarz, Petra Nathan, Moritz Gegg, Heiko Lickert, Wolfgang-Michael Franz: Induction of MesP1 by Brachyury (T) generates the common multipotent cardiovascular stem cell . In: Cardiovascular Research , 2011, 92, pp. 115-122
  6. ↑ Anna M. Wobus, Guan Kaomei, Jin Shan, Marie-Cecile Wellner, Jürgen Rohwedel, Ji Guanju, Bernd Fleischmann, Hugo A. Katus, Ju ̈rgen Hescheler, Wolfgang-Michael Franz: Retinoic Acid Accelerates Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac Differentiation and Enhances Development of Ventricular Cardiomyocytes . In: Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology , 1997, 29, pp. 1525-1539
  7. ↑ Robert David, Florian Schwarz, Christian Rimmbach, Petra Nathan, Julia Jung, Christoph Brenner, Veronica Jarsch, Juliane Stieber, Wolfgang-Michael Franz. Selection of a common multipotent cardiovascular stem cell using the 3.4-kb MesP1 promoter fragment . In: Basic Research in Cardiology , 2013, 108, p. 312 doi: 10.1007 / s00395-012-0312-2
  8. ^ R. David, H. Theiss, W.-M. Franz: Connexin 40 Promoter-Based Enrichment of Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiovascular Progenitor Cells . In: Cells Tissues Organs , 2008, 188, pp. 62-69, doi: 10.1159 / 000119408
  9. ↑ M. Müller, BK Fleischmann, S. Selbert, GJ Ji, E. Endl, G. Middeler, OJ Müller, P. Schlenke, S. Frese, AM Wobus, J. Hescheler, HA Katus, WM Franz: Selection of ventricular -like cardiomyocytes from ES cells in vitro . 2000, pp. 2540-2548
  10. ^ C Brenner, WM. Franz: Pluripotent-stem-cell-derived epicardial cells: a step toward artificial cardiac tissue . In: Cell Stem Cell. 2014 Nov 6.15 (5), pp. 533-534, doi: 10.1016 / j.stem.2014.10.007 . Epub 2014 Nov 6.
  11. ↑ Christoph Brenner, Wolfgang-M Franz: The use of stem cells for the repair of cardiac tissue in ischemic heart disease . In: Expert Rev Med Devices , 2011 Mar; 8 (2), pp. 209–225, doi: 10.1586 / erd.10.78
  12. ^ MG Engelmann, WM. Franz Stem cell therapy after myocardial infarction: ready for clinical application? In: Curr Opin Mol Ther. 2006 Oct; 8 (5): 396-414.
  13. ↑ Cajetan Lang, Sebastian Lehner, Andrei Todica, Guido Boening, Mathias Zacherl, Wolfgang-Michael Franz, Bernd Joachim Krause, Peter Bartenstein, Marcus Hacker, Robert David: In-vivo comparison of the acute retention of stem cell derivatives and fibroblasts after intramyocardial transplant in the mouse model . In: Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging , 2014, 41, pp. 2325-2336, doi: 10.1007 / s00259-014-2858-8
  14. ↑ Ilias Dimomeletis, Elisabeth Deindl, Marc Zaruba, Michael Groebner, Stefan payers, Saskia M. Lasloc, Robert David, Sawa Kostin, Mark A. German, Gerd Assmann, Josef Mueller-Hoecker, Michaela Feuring-Buske, Wolfgang M. Franz: Assessment of human MAPCs for stem cell transplantation and cardiac regeneration after myocardial infarction in SCID mice . In: Experimental Hematology , 2010, 38, pp. 1105-1114
  15. ↑ Robert David, Florian Schwarz, Christian Rimmbach, Petra Nathan, Julia Jung, Christoph Brenner, Veronica Jarsch, Juliane Stieber, Wolfgang-Michael Franz: Selection of a common multipotent cardiovascular stem cell using the 3.4-kb MesP1 promoter fragment . In: Basic Res Cardiol , 2013, 108, p. 312, doi: 10.1007 / s00395-012-0312-2
  16. ↑ Embryonic stem cell research, positive vote of the EU . In: D tsch Arztebl , 2006, 103 (25), pp. A-1722 / B-1472 / C-1424
  17. ↑ News: Munich Heart Alliance. Accessed July 19, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Oskar Lapp Research Prize. Retrieved July 19, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Franz, Wolfgang-Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cardiology
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich