Professor, State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology; “Hundred Scholar” Award.

We are interested in Hematopoiesis and Cardiovascular development biology, with particular focus on Hemangioblast formation, Artery/Vein specification and Hematopoietic Stem Cell (HSC) development, using zebrafish and mouse as model organisms. We also study the interaction between thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and T cells during thymopoiesis.

1. Genetic control of hematopoiesis and hematopoietic stem cell development in zebrafish and mice

Our previous work has demonstrated that several ETS transcription factors involved in blood and endothelial development (Liu et al, Curr Biol 2008; Liu and Patient, Circ Res 2008). Our current work focuses on key signal transduction pathways and gene regulatory network (GRN) controlling hematopoietic/cardiovascular stem cell differentiation to better understand molecular mechanisms of programming/reprogramming of these cells for potential therapeutic application (Wang et al, Blood 2011, 2013; Zhang et al, BBA 2012).

2. Molecular regulation of thymopoiesis and T cell development 

We have recently shown that Foxn1 plays essential role during thymopoiesis in zebrafish to maintain TEC and T cell development through direct regulation of Mcm2, a molecule involved in cell proliferation (Ma et al, PNAS 2012; Ma et al, DCI 2013). We are also working on several other genes and T cell defective mutants to further understand the molecular mechanisms of thymopoiesis in vertebrates.

Representative publications (*corresponding author)
2015
32.  He QP, Liu F*. Unexpected role of inflammatory signaling in hematopoietic stem cell development: its role beyond inflammation. Curr Opin Hematol. 2015. [in press]
31.  Lu XY, Wei YL, Liu F*. Direct regulation of p53 by miR-142a-3p mediates the survival of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in zebrafish. Cell Discovery, ​doi:10.1038/celldisc.2015.27.
30.  Zhang PP, He QP, Chen DB, Liu WX, Wang L, Zhang CX, Ma DY, Li W, Liu B, Liu F*. G protein-coupled receptor 183 facilitates endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition via Notch1 inhibition. Cell Res. 25:1093–107, (2015)
29.  Wang SF, He QP, Ma DY, Xue YY, Liu F*. Irf4 Regulates the Choice between T Lymphoid-Primed Progenitor and Myeloid Lineage Fates during Embryogenesis. Dev Cell. 34:621-31, (2015)
28.  Xue YY, Gao S, Liu F*. Genome-wide analysis of the zebrafish Klf family identifies two genes important for erythroid maturation. Dev Biol. 403(2):115-27, (2015)
27.  He QP, Zhang CX, Wang L, Zhang PP, Ma DY, Lv JH, Liu F*. Inflammatory signaling regulates hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell emergence in vertebrates. Blood. 125(7):1098-106, (2015)
26.  Wang H, Li Y, Wang S, Zhang Q, Zheng J, Yang Y, Qi H, Qu H, Zhang Z, Liu F, Fang X.. Knockdown of transcription factor forkhead box O3 (FOXO3) suppresses erythroid differentiation in human cells and zebrafish. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 460(4):923-30, (2015)
25.  Tu T, Zhang CX, Yan H, Luo Y, Kong R, Wen P, Ye Z, Chen J, Feng J, Liu F, Wu JY, Yan X..CD146 acts as a novel receptor for netrin-1 in promoting angiogenesis and vascular development. Cell Res. 25(3):275-87, (2015)
24.  Zhou Y, Ge R, Wang R, Liu F, Huang Y, Liu H, Hao Y, Zhou Q, Wang C. UXT potentiates angiogenesis by attenuating Notch signaling. Development. 142(4):774-86, (2015)
2014
23.  Wei YL Ma DY, Gao Y, Zhang CX, Wang L, Liu, F*. Ncor2 is required for hematopoietic stem cell emergence by inhibiting Fos signaling in zebrafish. Blood. 124(10):1578-85, (2014)
22.  Zhang CX, Lv JH, He QP, Wang SF, G Ya, Meng AM, Yang X, Liu, F*. Inhibition of endothelial ERK signaling by Smad1/5 is essential for hematopoietic stem cell emergence. Nat Commun. 5(3431), (2014)
21.  Ping XL, Sun BF, Wang L, Xiao W, Yang X,Wang WJ, Samir A, Shi Y, Lv Y, Chen YS, Zhao X, Li A, Yang Y, Ujwal D, Lou XM, Liu X, Huang J, Yuan WP, Zhu XF, Cheng T, Zhao YL, Wang XQ, Danielsen JMR, Liu F*, Yang YG*. Mammalian WTAP is a regulatory subunit of the RNA N6-methyladenosine methyltransferase. Cell Res. 24(2):177-89, (2014)
20.  Gorsi B, Liu F, Ma X, Chico T.J.A, Shrinivasan A, Kramer KL, Bridges E, Monteiro R, Harris AL, Patient R, Stringer SE. The heparan sulfate editing enzyme Sulf1 plays a novel role in zebrafish VegfA mediated arterial venous identity. Angiogenesis. 17(1):77-91, (2014).
2013
19.  Ye ZD, Zhang CX, Tu T, Sun M, Liu D, Lu D, Feng J, Yang DL, Liu F* and Yan XY*. Wnt5a uses CD146 as a receptor to regulate cell motility and convergent extension. Nat Commun. 4:2803, (2013)
18.  Lu XY, Li XJ, He QP, Gao J, Gao Y, Liu B, Liu F*. miR-142-3p regulates the formation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells in vertebrates. Cell Res. 23(12):1356-68, (2013)
17.  Huang SJ, Zhang Z, Zhang CX, Lv XD, Zheng XD, Chen ZP, Sun LW, Wang HL, Zhu YX, Zhang J, Yang SY, Lu Y, Sun QM, Tao Y, Liu F, Zhao Y, Chen DH*. Activation of Smurf E3 ligase promoted by Smoothened regulates Hedgehog signaling through targeting Patched turnover. PLoS Biology. (11) e1001721, (2013)
16.  Zhang Z, Feng J, Pan CY, Lv XD, Wu WQ, Zhou ZC, Liu F, Zhang L, Zhao Y*. Atrophin-Rpd3 complex represses Hedgehog signaling by acting as a corepressor of CiR. J Cell Biol. 203(4):575-83, (2013)
15.  Ciau-Uitz A, Wang L, Patient R, Liu F*. ETS transcription factors in hematopoietic stem cell development. Blood Cells Mol Dis. 51(4):248-55, (2013)
14.  Jiang L, Zhang J, Wang JJ, Wang L, Zhang L, Li GQ, Yang XD, Ma X, Sun X, Cai J, Zhang J, Huang XX, Yu M, Wang XG, Liu F, Wu CI, He C, Zhang B, Ci WM, and Liu J. Sperm, but Not Oocyte, DNA Methylome Is Inherited by Zebrafish Early Embryos. Cell. 153(4):773-84, (2013)
13.  Wang L, Liu TH, Xu LJ, Gao Y, Wei YL, Duan C, Chen GQ, Lin S, Patient R, Zhang B, Hong DL, Liu F*. Fev regulates hematopoietic stem cell development via ERK signaling. Blood. 122(3):367-75, (2013) Cover story
12.  Ma DY, Wei YL, Liu F*. Regulatory mechanisms of thymus and T cell development. Dev Comp Immunol. 39(1-2):91-102, (2013)
11.  Zhang CX, Patient R, Liu F*. Hematopoietic stem cell development and regulatory signaling in zebrafish. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1830(2):2370-4, (2013)
2012
10.  Ma DY, Wang L, Wang SF, Gao Y, Wei YL, Liu F*. Foxn1 maintains thymic epithelial cells to support T-cell development via mcm2 in zebrafish. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 109(51):21040-5, (2012)
9.   Liu ZB, Liu F*. Cautious use of fli1a:EGFP transgenic zebrafish in vascular research. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 427(1):223-6, (2012)
2011
8.   Zhang PP, Liu F*. In vivo imaging of hematopoietic stem cell development in the zebrafish. Front Med. 5(3):239-47, (2011)
7.   Wang L, Zhang PP, Wei YL, Gao Y, Patient R, Liu F*. A blood flow-dependent klf2a-NO signaling cascade is required for stabilization of hematopoietic stem cell programming in zebrafish embryos. Blood. 118(15):4102-10, (2011)
2010
6.   Miller LC, Freter S, Liu F,Taylor JSH, Patient R, Begbie J. Separating early sensory neuron and blood vessel patterning. Dev Dyn. 239(12):3297-302, (2010)
5.   Ciau-Uitz A*, Liu F# and Patient R. Genetic control of hematopoiesis in zebrafish and Xenopus (invited review). Int J Dev Biol. 54(6-7):1139-49, (2010) (#, co-first author)
2008 and before
4.   Liu F and Patient R. Genome-wide analysis of the zebrafish ETS family identifies three genes required for hemangioblast differentiation or angiogenesis. Cir Res. 103(10):1147-54, (2008)
3.   Liu F, Walmsley M, Rodaway A, Patient R. Fli1 acts at the top of the transcriptional network driving blood and endothelial development. Curr Biol. 18(16):1234–40. (2008)
2.   Lo J*, Lee S*, Xu M*, Liu F#, et al. 15,000 unique zebrafish EST clusters and their future use in microarray for profiling gene expression patterns during embryogenesis. Genome Res. 13(3):455-66, (2003) (#, co-first author)
1.   Liu F and Wen ZL. Cloning and expression pattern of the Lysozyme C gene in zebrafish. Mech Dev. 113(1):69-72, (2002)