Dr. Jessica Ai-jia Liu received her Bachelor degree in Biochemical Engineering from East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai and Ph.D degree in the Department of Surgery, followed by postdoctoral training in the School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. She was promoted to Research Assistant professor in the Department of Anaesthesiolgy in 2019. Dr. Liu has made seminal contributions to unravel the molecular mechanisms in governing the nervous system development and its associated disorders. She is a recipient of YS and Christabel Lung Scholarship (2015), outstanding postgraduate award (2016), Hong Kong Young Scientist Award (2016) and LKS Faculty outstanding research output award (2018) in recognition of her research achievements. Her work is also featured in press release at the Faculty/ University levels as well as the local media. Dr. Liu joined the City University of Hong Kong in 2022.

Research Interests

A complex gene regulatory network orchestrates the establishment of Peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous systems (CNS) during embryogenesis, particularly in controlling the formation, proliferation, migration of multipotent progenitors and the decision between neuronal and glial fate acquisition. Consequently, dysregulation of gene batteries leads to variety of neurological disorders.

Our laboratory is focusing on investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain which is induced by central/peripheral nerve injury or diseases. We are leveraging the power of clinical associated study, stem cell biology, somatic cell reprogramming, omics based metabolic and single-cell technologies to unravel the pain signaling for identifying therapeutic targets and explore alternative approaches for nerve repairs and regeneration.

Our laboratory is also interested in studying the cell signaling in determining the neuronal- glial cell fate during PNS development. We use chicken/mouse animal model and organoids derived from human cells to understand their functions in normal developmental process and human congenital disorders. We have further expanded research interests in elucidating the disease mechanism of the neuronal-glial interaction in spinal cord muscular atrophy using patients’ somatic cells derived human pluripotent stem cells and mouse model.

Position Available

We are seeking for highly-motivated Ph.D students and Research Assistants to join our team. They should have relevant research experience in cell and molecular biology and willing to take up challenging techniques and develop new platform. Interested candidates please contact aijialiu@cityu.edu.hk.

Publications

• Fan TT, Yu Y, Chen YL, Gu P, Wong S, Xia ZY, Liu JA*, Cheung CW *. HDAC5-induced deficiency of STAT3 acetylation contributes to spinal astrocytes degeneration in painful diabetic neuropathy. Glia. Dec 2022 (In press).
• Yang H, Shan Z, Guo W, Wang Y, Cai S, Li F, Huang Q, Liu JA, Cheung CW, Cai S. Reversal of Peripheral Neuropathic Pain by the Small-Molecule Natural Product Narirutin via Block of Na(v)1.7 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel. Int J Mol Sci. Nov 27 2022; 23(23) doi:10.3390/ijms232314842
• Chen YL, Feng XL, Cheung CW, Liu JA*. Mode of action of astrocytes in pain: from the spinal cord to the brain. Prog Neurobiol. Oct 10 2022:102365. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102365
• Hu F, Fong KO, Cheung MPL, Liu JA, Liang R, Li TW, Sharma R, Ip PP, Yang X, Cheung M. DEPDC1B Promotes Melanoma Angiogenesis and Metastasis through Sequestration of Ubiquitin Ligase CDC16 to Stabilize Secreted SCUBE3. Adv Sci (Weinh). Apr 2022;9(10):e2105226. doi:10.1002/advs.202105226
• Liu D, Ding HL, Chen Y, Chen DH, Yang C, Yang LM, Liu JA, Zhang L, Xia ZY, Zhang XH, Lei S, Xia Z. Comparison of the clinical characteristics and mortalities of severe COVID-19 patients between pre- and post-menopause women and age-matched men. Aging (Albany NY). Sep 22 2021; 13(18):21903-21913. doi:10.18632/aging.203532
• Liu JA*, Jing Y and Cheung CW. Immune actions on the peripheral nervous system in pain. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22(3): 1448.
• Yang XY, Hu F, Liu JA, Shan Y, Cheung MPL, Liu XL, Ng OL, Guan XY, Wong KKW, Sharma R, Lung HL, Jiao Y, Lee LTO and Cheung M. Nuclear DLC1 exerts oncogenic function through association with FOXK1 for cooperative actiation of MMP9 expression in melanoma. Oncogene 2020; 39(20): 4061-76.
• Liu JA, Tai A, Hong JL, Cheung MPL, Sham MH, Cheah KSE, Cheung CW and Cheung M. Fbxo9 functions downstream of Sox10 to determine neuron-glial fate choice in the dorsal root ganglia through Neurog2 destabilization. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2020; 117(8): 4199-4210.
• Yang XY, Liang R, Liu CX, Liu JA, Cheung MPL, Liu XL, Man OY, Guan XY, Lung HL and Cheung M. SOX9 is a dose-dependent metastatic fate determinant in melanoma. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research 2019; 38(1): 17.
• Wang YX, Liu JA, Leung KH, Sham MH, Chan D, Cheah KSE and Cheung M. Reprogramming of mouse calvarial osteoblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cells International 2018; 2018: 5280793.
• Liu JA, Rao Y, Cheung MPL, Hui MN, Wu MH, Chan LK, Ng IO, Niu B, Cheah KSE, Sharma R, Hodgson L and Cheung M. Asymmetric localization of DLC1 defines avian trunk neural crest polarity for directional delamination and migration. Nature Communications 2017; 8(1): 1185.
• Liu JA and Cheung M. Neural crest stem cells and their potential therapeutic applications. Developmental Biology 2016; 419(2): 199-216.
• Liu JA, Lai PL, Gui HS, Sham MH, Garcia-Barcelo, MM, Hui CC, and Ngan ES. Identification of GLI mutations in patients with Hirschsprung disease that disrupt enteric nervous system development in mice. Gastroenterology 2015; 149(7): 1837-48.
  (Editor comment: Yong HM, Stamp LA and Hofstra RM. Hirschsprung disease and activation of hedgehog signaling via GLI1-3 mutations. Gastroenterology 2015; 149(7): 1672-5.)
• Lau ST, Zhou TW, Liu JA, Fung EY, Che CM, Lang BH and Ngan ES. Dysregulation of Clathrin promotes thyroid cell growth and contributes to multinodular goiter pathogenesis. BBA Molecular Basis of Disease 2015; 1852(8): 1676-86.
• Liu JA and Ngan ES. Hedgehog and Notch signaling in enteric nervous system development. Neurosignals 2014; 22: 1-13.
• Liu JA, Wu MH, Yan CH, Chau BK, So H, Ng A, Chan A, Cheah KS, Briscoe J and Cheung M. Phosphorylation of Sox9 is required for neural crest delamination and is regulated downstream of BMP and canonical Wnt signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2013; 110(8): 2882-7.