Principal Investigator
Heli Liu, Email: liuheli@bjmu.edu.cn
11/2011 Investigator, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Peking University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
01/2006-09/2011 Postdoctoral fellow and Research Associate, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
07/2005 Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biophysics at Chinese Academy of Sciences
Research profile
Our lab focuses on structural exploration and therapeutical manipulation of the significant molecular events in the pathological processes such as cancer metastasis and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), specially involved by cell-surface receptors likeintegrins, receptors tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and neuronal cell adhesion molecules .Using a range of methodologies including X-ray crystallography, protein chemistry, molecular biology and biophysics, we try to answer some basic scientific questions, i.e., how these cell-surface receptors perform their transmembrane signaling process at the atomic resolution level, how their cross-talk constitutes a complex signaling network for cell movement and synaptic formation, and how their dysfunction is associated with human diseases. Furthermore, ultizing chemical biology methods like genetic evolution and cell-surface display, we seek to develop powerful antagonistic or agonistic proteinstargeting these receptors for cancer therapy.
Current projects
1. Structural basis and molecular mechanisms of cross-talk between integrin and other cell-surface receptors in cancer metastasis
2. Structural biology of idiopathic epilepsy protein LGI1 and its complex with ADAMs
3. Structural and functional studies of ASD-associated neuronal cell adhesion molecules, such as contactin and contain-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2)
4. Development of protein drugs for cancer therapy based on the structures of tyrosine kinase receptorsand their complexes with cognateligands
Selected publications
· Jiang X, Fischer D, Chen X, McKenna SD, Liu H, Sriraman V, Yu HN, Goutopoulos A, Arkinstall S, He X.Evidence for Follicle-stimulating Hormone Receptor as a Functional Trimer. J Biol Chem. 2014 289(20): 14273–82
· Liu Heli, Leo C, Chen X, Wong BR, Williams LT, Lin H, He X. The mechanism of shared but distinct CSF-1R signaling by the non-homologous cytokines IL-34 and CSF-1.Biochim BiophysActa. 2012 1824(7):938-45
· Jiang X, Liu Heli, Chen X, Chen PH, Fischer D, Sriraman V, Yu HN, Arkinstall S, He X. Structure of follicle-stimulating hormone in complex with the entire ectodomain of its receptor.ProcNatlAcadSci U S A. 2012 109(31):12491-6
· Heli Liu, Pamela J. Focia, XiaolinHe.Homophilic adhesion mechanism of neurofascin, a member of the L1 family of neural cell adhesion molecules.J Biol Chem. 2011 286(1):797-805
· Heli Liu, Z. Sean Juo, Ann Hye-Ryong Shim, Pamela J. Focia, Xiaoyan Chen, K. Christopher Garcia, and Xiaolin He. Structural Basis of Semaphorin-Plexin Recognition and Viral Mimicry from Sema7A and A39R Complexes with PlexinC1. Cell. 2010 142(5):749-61. (recommended by “Faculty of 1000”)
· Ann H. R. Shim*, Heli Liu*, Pamela J. Focia, Xiaoyan Chen, P. Charles Lin, Xiaolin He. Structures of a platelet-derived growth factor/propeptide complex and a platelet-derived growth factor/receptor complex.Proc NatlAcadSci U S A. 2010 107(25):11307-12. (*equal contribution)
· Heli Liu, Ann H. R. ShimXiaolin He.Structural characterization of the ectodomain of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-22 (ADAM22), a neural adhesion receptor instead of metalloproteinase: insights on ADAM function.J Biol Chem. 2009 284(42):29077-86. (highlighted as “Paper of Week”)
· Heli Liu*, Xiaoyan Chen*, Pamela J Focia, Xiaolin He. Structural basis for stem cell factor-KIT signaling and activation of class III receptor tyrosine kinases. EMBO J. 2007 26(3):891-901 (*equal contribution) [commented in Cell. 2007 Jul 27;130(2):213-5]
Postdoc Position
One highly self-motivated and well-trained Ph.D in neuronal biology or cancer molecular biology is wanted. A considerable salary commensurate withresearch experience will be provided.
