Nian Liu Ph.D.

Main Research Fields

We are interested in the structure, function and regulation of our genome, especially the transposable elements. Transposable elements, also called mobile DNA elements or transposons, comprise nearly half of the human genome, and are still able to mobilize in modern humans. Transposons can affect neural and embryonic development, and are related with over 100 different types of diseases, including cancers and neurological disorders. However, the detailed mechanism and functions of transposons remain largely unexplored. Through ‘wet lab’ and ‘dry lab’ techniques, we are studying the mechanism of transposon regulation and the roles of transposons in development and disease.

Selected Publications

1. Zuo F^#, Jiang J^#, Fu H^#, Yan K, Liefke R, Zhang J, Hong Y, Chang Z, Liu N, Wang Z*, Xi Q*. A TRIM66/DAX1/Dux axis suppresses the totipotent 2-cell-like state in murine embryonic stem cells. Cell Stem Cell. 29(6), 948-961 (2022).

2. Liu N^#, Lee C^#, Swigut T, Grow E, Gu B, Bassik M, Wysocka J. Selective silencing of euchromatic L1s revealed by genome-wide screens for L1 regulators. Nature 553, 228-232 (2018).

3. Liu N^#, Zhou K^#, Parisien M, Dai Q, Diatchenko L, Pan T. N6-methyladenosine alters RNA structure to regulate binding of a low-complexity protein. Nucleic Acids Research 45 (10), 6051-6063 (2017).

4. Zhou K, Liu N, Pan T. Identification of N6-methyladenosine reader proteins. Methods 126, 105-111 (2017).

5. Liu N*, Pan T.* N6-methyladenosine-coded RNA Epigenetics. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 23, 98-102 (2016).

6. Zhou K, Parisien M, Dai Q, Liu N, Diatchenko L, Sachleben J, Pan T. N6-Methyladenosine Modification in a Long Noncoding RNA Hairpin Predisposes Its Conformation to Protein Binding. J. Mol. Biol. 428, 822-33 (2016).

7. Liu N, Dai Q, Zheng G, He C, Parisien M, Pan T. N6-methyladenosine-dependent RNA structural switches regulate RNA–protein interactions. Nature 518, 560-564 (2015).

8. Liu N, Pan T. Probing RNA modification status at single nucleotide resolution in messenger and long non-coding RNA. Methods in Enzymology 560, 149-159 (2015).

9. Liu N, Pan T. RNA epigenetics. Transl. Res. 165, 28-35 (2015)

10. Chen K, Lu Z, Wang X, Fu Y, Luo G, Liu N, Han D, Dominissini D, Dai Q, Pan T, He C. High-Resolution N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) Map Using Photo-Crosslinking-Assisted m6A Sequencing. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 53, 1-5 (2014).

11. Liu N, Parisien M, Dai Q, Zheng G, He C, Pan T. Probing N6-methyl-adenosine RNA modification status at single nucleotide resolution in mRNA and long noncoding RNA. RNA 19, 1848-1856 (2013).