Shu Fang Liu
Associate Professor
Center for Autoimmune, Musculoskeletal and Hematopoietic Dis
The Feinstein Institute For Medical Research
United States of America
Biography
Dr. Shu Fang Liu graduated from Shanghai Second Medical University in China and received his PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from Imperial College, University of London, England. He is currently an associate professor at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and professor of medicine at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine. Dr. Liu has been investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms of multiple organ injury caused by sepsis, a condition that claimed thousands of lives each year for 20 years.
Research Interest
Dr. Liu’s laboratory focuses on molecular mechanisms of septic shock, and septic multiple organ injury (MOI), conditions that claim thousands of life each year. Using modern molecular biology techniques, we are unveiling the molecular and cellular events that take place when bacterial infections initiate the inflammatory process and lead to the development of septic shock and septic MOI. Our goal is to discover the key molecules that can be new targets for developing new therapies for treating these life-threatening conditions. We have discovered that activation of endothelium, a monolayer of cells lining the inner surface of all our blood vessels, by inflammatory mediators is a “rate-limiting†factor determining the severity of organ injury. Prevention of endothelium activation and injury without blocking inflammation is sufficient to mitigate MOI caused by sepsis. We are currently developing strategies to strengthen the endothelium or to accelerate the repair of the injured endothelium. These studies will lead to the development of novel anti-sepsis therapies. We have also discovered that in addition to triggering uncontrolled systemic inflammation, bacterial infection also suppresses the expression of multiple “housekeeping genesâ€, whose products are critical for the maintenance of normal organ functions, and impairs our body’s anti-inflammatory and protective mechanisms. We are investigating how bacterial infection represses housekeeping gene expression and impairs the anti-inflammatory and protective mechanisms, and are trying to find the ways of boost these anti-inflammatory mechanisms.
Publications
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Xu, H, Ye, X, Steinberg, H and Liu SF. “Selective blockade of endothelial NF-kappaB pathway differentially affects systemic inflammation and multiple organ dysfunction and injury in septic mice.†J Pathol 220:490-498, 2010.
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Song, D, Fang, G, Mao, SZ, Ye, X, Liu, G, Gong, Y and Liu SF. “Chronic intermittent hypoxia induces atherosclerosis by NF-κB-dependent mechanisms.†Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Dis. 1822:1650-9, (2012).
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Fang, G, Song, D., Ye, X, Mao, S-Z, Liu, G, and Liu SF. “Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia Exposure Induces Atherosclerosis in ApoE Knockout Mice: Role of NF-κB p50.†Am J Pathol. 181:1530-9, 2012).
