Nan Liu
Professor
Department of Chemistry
Institute of Organic Chemistry
China
Biography
Education and Appointments： 2010/12-2012/12 Research Associate, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MD, USA 2009/12-2010/11 Postdoc, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA 2003/7-2009/11 Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
Research Interest
A prominent aspect of ageing is that normal tissues, such as brains, with age, undergo functional decline and potentially degeneration. However, there are few experimental systems that can be approached to define genes and pathways that underlie the normal maintenance of adult brain with age. The model organism Drosophila melanogaster is a powerful, highly manipulable system with many fundamental pathways conserved to humans. Using Drosophila, I found that a highly conserved microRNA, miR-34, is an intrinsic modulator impacting ageing and neurodegeneration. Intriguingly, I further identified a novel miRNA biogenesis mechanism requring a 3’-to-5’ exoribonuclease gene called Nibbler/Nbr (CG9247). Small RNA deep sequencing analysis revealed that Nbr null flies are defective in processing of a sheaf of multi-isoform miRNAs. This finding explains the 3′ heterogeneity that has been observed in many miRNAs and shows that Nbr-mediated 3’ end processing is a component of a highly orchestrated machinery of miRNA processing that promotes miRNA repertoire and function. My future studies aim to reveal novel regulatory layers that functionally integrate ageing, chronic maintenance of adult tissues and disease modul
Publications
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Yu J, Fan Y, Liu N, Shan Y, Li X, Zhang Q (2007). Rapid genome evolution in the Pms1 region of rice revealed by comparative sequence analysis. Chinese Science Bulletin. 52:912-921
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Liu N*, Abe M*, Sabin LR, Hendriks GJ, Naqvi AS, Yu Z, Cherry S, Bonini NM (2011). The exoribonuclease Nibber controls 3’ end processing of microRNAs in Drosophila. Current Biology. 21(22):1888-93 (*equal contribution; Featured article; Brief in Nat Rev Genet. 2011 Dec;12)
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Liu N, Landreh M, Cao K, Abe M, Hendriks, Jason Kennerdell J, Zhu Y, Wang L and Bonini N (2012). The microRNA miR-34 modulates aging and neurodegeneration in Drosophila. Nature. 15;482(7386):519-23. (Faculty of 1000 selection; Highlight in Nat Rev Neurosci. 2012 Apr;13(4):222. Nat Rev Genet. 2012 Apr;13(4):222. Cell Research 2012 Apr; (1)-3)
