Jun Liu
Associate Professor of Molecular Biology & Genetics

Phone

607-254-8942

Address

Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics
439 Biotechnology Building
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-2703

Email

Web Sites

Background

Jun "Kelly" Liu is an Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics. She received a B.S. degree in Biology at Wuhan University in China and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology from Cornell University. She did her postdoctoral research at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Embryology, where she was awarded a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship. She joined the faculty at Cornell in 2001. She is in the graduate fields of Genetics & Development, and Biochemistry, Molecular & Cell Biology.

Research Description

Our research interests focus on two areas of developmental biology: 1) mechanisms that determine cell fate, and 2) functions of the nuclear envelope. We have chosen the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to explore these areas of research since C. elegans offers a number of advantages for these studies: 1) the entire cell lineage has been mapped, making possible the study of gene function at single cell resolution; 2) sophisticated genetic and molecular tools are available, including efficient transgenic techniques and a complete genome sequence. more

Selected Publications

Jiang, Y., Shi, H., Amin, N. M., Sultan, I. and Liu, J. (2008) Mesodermal expression of the C. elegans HMX homolog mls-2 requires the PBC homolog CEH-20. Mech. Dev. 125: 451-461. Epub 2008 Feb 2. (Pubmed)

Foehr, M. L. and Liu, J. (2008) Dorsoventral patterning of the C. elegans postembryonic mesoderm requires both LIN-12/Notch and TGF-beta signaling. Dev. Biol. 313: 256-266. Epub 2007 Oct 25. (Pubmed)

Amin, N. M., Hu, K., Pruyne, D., Terzic, D., Bretscher, A. and Liu, J. (2007) A Zn finger/FH2 domain containing protein FOZI-1 acts redundantly with CeMyoD to specify striated body wall muscle fates in the C. elegans postembryonic mesoderm. Development 134: 19-29. Epub 2006 Nov 30. (Pubmed)

Johnston R. J. Jr., Copeland, J. W., Fasnacht, M., Etchberger, J. F., Liu, J., Honig, B. and Hobert, O. (2006) An unusual Zn-finger/FH2 domain protein controls a left/right asymmetric neuronal fate decision in C. elegans. Development 133: 3317-3328. (Pubmed)

Foehr, M. F., Lindy, A. S., Fairbank, R. C., Amin, N. M., Xu, M., Yanowitz, J., Fire, A. Z. and Liu, J. (2006) An antagonistic role for the C. elegans Schnurri homolog SMA-9 in modulating TGF-ß signaling during mesodermal patterning. Development 133: 2887-2896. (Pubmed)

Haithcock, E., Dayani, Y., Neufeld, E., Zahand, A. J., Feinstein, N., Mattout, A., Gruenbaum, Y. and Liu, J. (2005) Age-related changes of nuclear architecture in C. elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 102: 16690-16695. (PubMed)

This article was highlighted in the same issue of PNAS 102: 16531, and featured in a commentary by Wilson, K.L. (2005) PNAS 102: 18767-18768 ( Pubmed) and a News and Views article by Lans and Hoejimakers (2006) Nature 440: 32-34 (Pubmed).

Jiang, Y., Horner, V. and Liu, J. (2005) The HMX homeodomain protein MLS-2 regulates cleavage orientation, cell proliferation and cell fate specification in the C. elegans postembryonic mesoderm. Development 132: 4119-4130.(PubMed)

Margalit, A., Liu, J., Fridkin, A., Wilson, K. L. and Gruenbaum, Y. (2005) A lamin-dependent pathway that regulates nuclear organization, cell cycle progression and germ cell development. Novartis Found Symp. 264: 231-240; discussion 240-245.(PubMed)

Liang, J., Lints, R., Foehr, M. L., Tokarz, R., Yu, L., Emmons, S. W., Liu, J. and Savage-Dunn, C. (2003) The Caenorhabditis elegans schnurri homolog, sma-9, mediates stage- and cell type- specific responses to dbl-1 BMP-related signaling. Development 130: 6453-6464. (PubMed)

Liu, J., Lee, K. K., Segura-Totten, M., Neufeld E., Wilson, K. L. and Gruenbaum, Y. (2003) MAN1 and emerin have overlapping function(s) essential for chromosome segregation and cell division in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 100:4598-4603. (PubMed)

Lee, K. K., Starr, D., Cohen, M., Liu, J., Han, M., Wilson, K. L. and Gruenbaum Y. (2002) Lamin-dependent localization of UNC-84, a protein required for nuclear migration in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mol. Biol. Cell 13: 892-901. (PubMed)

Gruenbaum, Y., Lee, K. K., Liu, J., Cohen, M. and Wilson, K. L. (2002) The expression, lamin-dependent localization and RNAi depletion phenotype for emerin in C. elegans. J. Cell Sci. 115: 923-929. (PubMed)

Lee, K. K., Gruenbaum, Y., Spann, P., Liu, J. and Wilson, K. L. (2000) C. elegans nuclear envelope proteins Emerin, MAN1, lamin, and nucleoporins reveal unique timing of nuclear envelope breakdown during mitosis. Mol. Biol. Cell 11: 3089-3099. (PubMed)

Liu, J., Ben-Shahar, T. R., Riemer, D., Treinin, M., Spann, P., Weber, K., Fire, A. and Gruenbaum, Y. (2000). Essential roles for Caenorhabditis elegans lamin gene in nuclear organization, cell cycle progression and spatial organization of nuclear pore complexes. Mol. Biol. Cell 11: 3937-3947. (PubMed)

Liu, J., and Fire, A. (2000). Overlapping roles of two Hox genes and the exd ortholog ceh-20 in diversification of the C. elegans postembryonic mesoderm. Development 127: 5179-5190. (PubMed)

Yu, J., Liu, J., Song, K., Turner, S. and Wolfner, M. F. (1999) Nuclear entry of the Drosophila melanogaster nuclear lamina protein YA correlates with developmentally regulated changes in its phosphorylation state. Dev. Biol. 210: 124-134. (PubMed)

Harfe, B. D., Gomes, A. Z., Kenyon, C., Liu, J., Krause, M. and Fire, A. (1998) Analysis of a Caenorhabditis elegans twist homolog identifies conserved and divergent aspects of mesodermal patterning. Genes & Dev. 12: 263-2635. (PubMed)

Liu, J. and Wolfner, M. F. (1998) Functional dissection of YA, an essential, developmentally regulated nuclear lamina protein in Drosophila melanogaster. Mol. Cell Biol. 18: 188-197. (PubMed)

Liu, J., Lopez, J. M., and Wolfner, M. F. (1997) Developmental modulations of the nuclear envelope. Curr. Topics Dev. Biol. 35: 47-70. (PubMed)

Liu, J., Lin, H., Lopez, J. M. and Wolfner, M. F. (1997) Formation of the male pronuclear lamina in Drosophila melanogaster. Dev. Biol. 184: 187-196. (PubMed)

Liu, J., Song, K. and Wolfner, M. F. (1995) Mutational analyses of fs(1)Ya, an essential, developmentally regulated, nuclear envelope protein in Drosophila. Genetics 141: 1473-1481. (PubMed)

Click here for Dr. Liu's PubMed listings.