LIU wei

LIU Wei, Ph. D., Professor.

CV

1990-1994, College of Life Science, Henan Normal University, China. B. S.

1995-1998, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. M.S.

1998-2003, Institute of Molecular Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Ph.D.

2003-2005, Institute of Molecular Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Postdoc

2005-2010, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, MD, USA. Postdoc

2010-present, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.

Research:

The mechanisms of BHD syndrome

BHD is a genetic disorder caused by mutations of the FLCN gene (OMIM: 135150). The typical features of BHD include benign skin tumors, lung cysts and kidney cancer. FLCN can interact with different singling pathways and is involved several fundamental processes, such as nutrient (mTOR) and energy (AMPK) metabolisms, lysosome homeostasis (TFEB/TFE3) and vesicular trafficking (Rab proteins). Our team mainly studies the mechanisms of FLCN during vesicular trafficking. Our researches reveal that FLCN regulates the intracellular transport of several membrane proteins and is thus involved in amino acids and iron metabolisms. These findings imply that BHD might be caused by certain abnormal cellular metabolisms. Using various cell and mouse models, the current researches focus on the mechanisms of FLCN in mTOR, HIF and NF-kB signaling pathways.

Teaching:

Cell Biology; Protein Engineering; Cellular Signal Transduction and Regulation

Publications:

Wang X, Wu H, Zhao L, Liu Z, Qi M, Jin Y, Liu W (2021). FLCN regulates transferrin receptor 1 transport and iron homeostasis. J Biol Chem . 296:100426. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100426.

Zhao L, Zhang X, Ji X, Jin Y, Liu W (2019). The amino acid transporter PAT1 regulates mTORC1 in a nutrient-sensitive manner that requires its transport activity. Cell Signal. 53:59-67.

Zhao L, Ji X, Zhang X, Li L, Jin Y, Liu, W (2018). FLCN is a novel Rab11A-interacting protein that is involved in the Rab11A-mediated recycling transport.  J Cell Sci . 131(24).pii: jcs218792. doi: 10.1242/jcs.218792.

Wu X, Chen Z, Gao Y, Wang L, Sun X, Jin Y, Liu, W (2018). The kruppel-like factor Dar1 restricts the proliferation of Drosophila intestinal stem cells.  FEBS J . 285(21):3945-3958.

Ji X, Zhao L, Luo H, Zhang X, Jin Y, Liu, W (2017). Amino acids suppress the expression of PAT1 on lysosomes via inducing the cleavage of a targeting signal.  FEBS Lett. 591(15):2279-2289.

Luo H, Zhao L, Ji X, Zhang X, Jin Y, Liu W (2017). Glycosylation affects the stability and subcellular distribution of human PAT1 protein.  FEBS Lett . 591 (4): 613-623.

Wu X, Zhao L, Chen Z, Ji X, Qiao X, Jin Y, Liu W (2016). FLCN Maintains the Leucine Level in Lysosome to Stimulate mTORC1.  PLoS One . 11(6):e0157100.

Liu W, Chen Z, Ma Y, Wu X, Jin Y, Hou S (2013). Genetic characterization of the Drosophila Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome gene. PLoS One . 8(6):e65869.

Contact:

Email: wliu20cn@nwafu.edu.cn