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Wanli Liu Ph.D

Professor

1997 – 2001, Bachelor, School of Biology, China Agriculture University

2001 – 2005, Ph.D, Dept. of Biological Science and Biotech, Tsinghua University

2005 – 2007, Postdoc, Dept. of Microbiology/Immunology, UCSF, USA

2007 – 2011, Postdoc, NIAID, NIH, USA

2011.12 – Associate Professor, Professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University

Research interest

My lab focuses on the basic immunology of lymphocytes, we are exploring the molecular mechanisms of B-cell antigen receptor-mediated immune activation and antibody response, and analyzing the relationship between the dysregulation of this process and the development of related diseases. Our ongoing studies include: (1) research on the molecular mechanism of B lymphocyte immune activation and its regulation; (2) research on antibody response defects caused by abnormal activation of B lymphocytes, autoimmune diseases as well as lymphatic cancers and leukemia; (3) molecular mechanism of antibody memory generation, storage and extraction, and its interventional strategies; (4) biological basis of B lymphocyte mechanoreceptor and its application to antibody response; (5) pathogenicity and pathogenicity of B lymphocytes; (6) molecular mechanism of antibody memory generation, storage and extraction, and its intervention strategies. (5) Exploration of new mechanisms of immune escape by pathogenic microorganisms acting on the activation pathway of B lymphocytes; (6) Construction of new vaccines and new drugs based on the above knowledge.

Selected publications

[1] Cuifeng Li#, Meng Zhao#, Xiaohang Liu#, Yuxin Li#, Bihua Xu#, Lina Zhou#, Xiaolin Sun#, Wenbo Sun, Na Kang, Zhenglin Ji, Tong Li, Haoran An, Fei Wang, Chuan Wu, Jing-Ying Ye, Jing-Ren Zhang*, Qingwen Wang*, Xiaodong Zhao*, Zhanguo Li*, Wanli Liu*. Ion channel TRPV2 is critical in enhancing B cell activation and function. J Exp Med. 2024, doi: 10.1084/jem.20221042.

[2] Wenna Chi#, Na Kang#, Linlin Sheng#, Sichen Liu#, Lei Tao, Xizhi Cao, Ye Liu, Can Zhu, Yuming Zhang, Bolong Wu, Ruiqun Chen, Lili Cheng, Jing Wang, Xiaolin Sun, Xiaohui Liu, Haiteng Deng, Jinliang Yang, Zhanguo Li, Wanli Liu*, Ligong Chen*. MCT1-governed pyruvate metabolism is essential for antibody class-switch recombination through H3K27 acetylation. Nature Communications. 2024, 15:163. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-44540-0.

[3] Bing Yang#, Zhen Zhang#, Xiangjun Chen#, Xu-Yan Wang, Shishang Qin, Liaoqi Du, Changjiang Yang, Liyu Zhu, Wenbo Sun, Yongjie Zhu, Qinwen Zheng, Shidong Zhao, Quan Wang, Long Zhao, Yilin Lin, Jinghe Huang, Fan Wu, Lu Lu, Fei Wang, Wenjie Zheng, Xiao-Hua Zhou, Xiaozhen Zhao, Ziye Wang, Sun Xiao-Lin, Yingjiang Ye, Shan Wang, Zhanguo Li, Hai Qi, Zemin Zhang, Dong-Ming Kuang, Lei Zhang, Zhanlong Shen*, Wanli Liu*. An Asian-specific variant in human IgG1 represses colorectal tumorigenesis by shaping the tumor microenvironment. J Clin Invest. 2022, e153454. doi: 10.1172/JCI153454.

[4] Xingwang Zhao#, Hengyi Xie#, Meng Zhao#, Asma Ahsan, Xinxin Li, Fei Wang, Junyang Yi, Zhiyong Yang, Chuan Wu, Indu Raman, Quan-Zhen Li*, Tae Jin Kim*, Wanli Liu*. Fc receptor-like 1 intrinsically recruits c-Abl to enhance B cell activation and function. Science Advances. 2019, 5, eaaw0315, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw0315

[5] Zhixun Shen#, Sichen Liu#, Xinxin Li#, Zhengpeng Wan, Youxiang Mao, Chunlai Chen, Wanli Liu*. Conformational change within the extracellular domain of B cell receptor in B cell activation upon antigen binding. eLife. 2019, 8, doi: 10.7554/eLife.42271.

[6] Chenguang Xu#, Yan Fang#, Zhiyong Yang, Yukai Jing, Yonghui Zhang, Chaohong Liu*, Wanli Liu*. MARCKS regulates tonic and chronic active B cell receptor signaling. Leukemia. 2019, 33:710-729.

[7] Xiangjun Chen, Xiaolin Sun#, Wei Yang#, Bing Yang#, Xiaozhen Zhao, Shuting Chen1, Lili He, Hui Chen, Changmei Yang, Le Xiao, Zai Chang, Jianping Guo, Jing He, Fuping Zhang, Fang Zheng, Zhibin Hu, Zhiyong Yang, Jizhong Lou, Wenjie Zheng, Hai Qi, Chenqi Xu, Hong Zhang, Hongying Shan, Xu-jie Zhou, Qingwen Wang, Yi Shi, Luhua Lai, Zhanguo Li *, Wanli Liu*. An autoimmune disease variant of IgG1 modulates B-cell activation and differentiation. Science. 2018, 362:700-705.

[8] Yun Xia#, Yonghua Xie#, Zhengsen Yu#, Hongying Xiao, Guimei Jiang, Xiaoying Zhou, Yunyun Yang, Xin Li, Meng Zhao, Liping Li, Mingke Zheng, Shuai Han, Zhaoyun Zong, Xianbin Meng, Haiteng Deng, Huahu Ye, Yunzhi Fa, Haitao Wu, Eric Oldfield, Xiaoyu Hu, Wanli Liu*, Yan Shi*, Yonghui Zhang*. The mevalonate pathway is a druggable target for vaccine adjuvant discovery. Cell. 2018, 175:1059-1073.

[9] Zhengpeng Wan, Chenguang Xu#, Xiangjun Chen#, Hengyi Xie#, Zongyu Li#, Jing Wang#, Xingyu Ji, Haodong Chen, Qinghua Ji, Samina Shaheen, Yang Xu, Fei Wang, Zhuo Tang, Ji-Shen Zheng, Wei Chen, Jizhong Lou, Wanli Liu*. PI(4,5)P2 determines the threshold of mechanical force-induced B cell activation. J Cell Biol. 2018, 217:2565-2582.

[10] Yonghui Sun#, Xingwang Zhao#, Ning Ding#, Hongying Gao#, Yue Wu, Yiqing Yang, Meng Zhao, Jinseok Hwang, Yuqin Song, Wanli Liu*, Yu Rao*. PROTAC-induced BTK degradation as a novel therapy for mutated BTK C481S induced ibrutinib-resistant B-cell malignancies. Cell Research. 2018, 28:779-781.

[11] Chenguang Xu, Hengyi Xie, Xingdong Guo, Haipeng Gong, Lei Liu, Hai Qi, Chenqi Xu, Wanli Liu*. A PIP2-derived amplification loop fuels the sustained initiation of B cell activation. Science Immunology. 2017, 2. pii: eaan0787. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aan0787.

[12] Samina Shaheen#, Zhengpeng Wan#, Zongyu Li#, Alicia Chau, Xinxin Li, Shaosen Zhang, Yang Liu, Junyang Yi, Yingyue Zeng, Jing Wang, Xiangjun Chen, Liling Xu, Wei Chen, Fei Wang, Yun Lu, Wenjie Zheng, Yan Shi, Xiaolin Sun, Zhanguo Li, Chunyang Xiong, Wanli Liu*. Substrate stiffness governs the initiation of B cell activation by the concerted signaling of PKCβ and focal adhesion kinase. eLife. 2017, 6, doi: 10.7554/eLife.23060.

[13] Liling Xu#, Mengdie Xia#, Jun Guo#, Xiaolin Sun#, Hua Li, Chenguang Xu, Xiaomei Gu, Haowen Zhang, Junyang Yi, Yan Fang, Hengyi Xie, Jing Wang, Zhixun Shen, Boxin Xue, Yujie Sun, Tobias Meckel, Ying-Hua Chen, Zhibin Hu, Zhanguo Li*, Chenqi Xu*, Haipeng Gong*, Wanli Liu*. Impairment on the lateral mobility induced by structural changes underlies the functional deficiency of the lupus-associated polymorphism FcγRIIB-T232. J Exp Med. 2016, 213:2707-2727.

[14] Jing Wang#, Shan Tang#, Zhengpeng Wan, Yiren Gao, Yiyun Cao, Junyang Yi, Yanyan Si, Haowen Zhang, Lei Liu* and Wanli Liu*. Utilization of a photoactivatable antigen system to examine B cell probing termination and the B cell receptor sorting mechanisms during B cell activation. PNAS. 2016, 113:558-567.

[15] Xiangjun Chen#, Weiling Pan#, Yinqiang Sui, Hua Li, Xiaoshan Shi, Xingdong Guo, Hai Qi, Chenqi Xu* and Wanli Liu*. Acidic phospholipids govern the enhanced activation of IgG-B cell receptor. Nature Communications. 2015, 6:8552.doi: 10.1038/ncomms9552.

Awards

Young Science & Technology Award, China, 2020

WuXi AppTec Outstanding Achievement Award in Life Science, China, 2019

C.C. Tan (Tan Jiazhen) Life Science Innovation Award, China, 2019

Newton Advanced Fellowship, The Royal Society UK, 2018

The Shulan Medical Prize, China, 2017

Contact information

Address:

Medical Science Bldg, B216

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 100084

Tel: +86-10-62783617

Email: LiuLab<********>tsinghua.edu.cn (Please replace<********>with@)

or LiuWanli_TsinghuaU<********>126.com (Please replace<********>with@)

Lab website: