Research Output per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Jie Liu obtained his PhD in Prof Tao Xu’s lab at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. His PhD research focused on the molecular mechanism of neurotransmitter release. In 2005, Dr. Liu joined Prof Shawn X.Z.Xu’s group at the University of Michigan studying the sensory perception, behavioural encoding neural circuits, and funcitonal ageing of the nervous system. In 2018, he was appointed as a group leader and established a sensory perception and ageing laboratory within the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology and the Neuroscience program at Biomedical Discovery Institute at Monash University.
Aging not only refers to the life span but also to the physiological decline of biological organisms. Aging research in mammalian and invertebrates, due to technical limitations and organisms’ specific biological characterizations, respectively focus on organ-based pathobiology and life span regulation. Invertebrate organisms including C. elegans, however, have much to offer beyond the life span regulation data they so readily provide for us. Dr. Liu seek to bridge a vital gap in aging research by moving beyond current studies of invertebrate life span regulation drawing from his strong graduate training in single-cell functional assays. By continually evaluating motor activity over C. elegans lifespan and investigating potential effects of longevity-promoting mutants for improved motor ability, his research showed that age-related functional deterioration begins in motor neurons during early-life (Cell Metabolism, 2013). This is followed by muscular impairment during mid- to late-life. His findings challenge the previous opinion that locomotory senescence is driven by age-associated deterioration in muscles rather than in motor neurons. His research further demonstrated that both long-lived mutants in daf-2 (an insulin receptor-like gene) and arecoline (a muscarinic agonist from areca nut) treatment, promote motor activity in aging worms by postponing functional decay in motor neurons. Dr Liu hereby provide a new means of evaluating age-associated neural functions in genetic model organisms and offer a novel model for NMJs aging.
Aging is also associated with anatomical and functional changes in the neural circuits. Exploring the underlying mechanisms of the neural circuits will significantly promote our understanding in functional ageing in the nervous system. By examining highly accessible genetic profiles and neural wiring diagrams for C. elegans, Dr Liu was able to advance our current map of the neural networks responsible for their distinctive locomotion behavior. He discovered that how different neural circuits act either solely or jointly to trigger an identical behaviour (Cell 2011), and how one neuron regulates distinctive behaviors by interacting with various neural circuits in C. elegans (Cell 2014).
Given aging process in model organisms is strongly modulated by environmental cues, Dr Liu is also interested in sensory transduction in C. elegans. He and his colleagues found that short wavelength light stimuli elicit a negative phototaxis in eyeless worms (Nature Neuroscience 2008). Dr Liu further identified LITE-1, a putative G-protein-couple receptor, as a novel light receptor in worms, and elucidated an orchestrated G protein-dependent cGMP pathway is responsible for the phototransduction in C. elegans (Nature Neuroscience 2010).
Research interests
1: Sensory perception;
2: Behavioural encoding neural circuits;
3: Functional ageing of the nervous system.
Keywords
- Ageing
- Sensory Perception
- functional ageing of the nervous system
- Neural Circuits and Behavior
- Ion channels
- Neural Plasticity
Network
Recent external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.
Selected Research Output 2005 2016
- 11 Article
Encoding of both analog- and digital-like behavioral outputs by one C. elegans interneuron
Li, Z., Liu, J., Zheng, M. & Xu, X. Z. S., 6 Nov 2014, In : Cell. 159, 4, p. 751-765 15 p., 27321925.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Functional aging in the nervous system contributes to age-dependent motor activity decline in C. elegans
liu, J., Zhang, B., Lei, H., Feng, Z., Liu, J., Hsu, A-L. & Xu, X. Z. S., 2013, In : Cell Metabolism. 18, p. 392-402 24011074.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
The neural circuits and synaptic mechanisms underlying motor initiation in C. elegans
Piggott, B. J., Liu, J., Feng, Z., Wescott, S. A. & Xu, X. Z. S., 2011, In : Cell. 147, p. 922-933 22078887.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
C. elegans phototransduction requires a G protein-dependent cGMP pathway and a taste receptor homolog
Liu, J., Ward, A., Gao, J., Dong, Y., Nishio, N., Inada, H., Kang, L., Yu, Y., Ma, D., Xu, T., Mori, I., Xie, Z. & Xu, X. Z. S., 2010, In : Nature Neuroscience. 13, p. 715-722 20436480.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Light-sensitive neurons and channels mediate phototaxis in C. elegans
Ward, A., Liu, J., Feng, Z. & Xu, X. Z. S., 2008, In : Nature Neuroscience. 11, p. 916-922 18604203.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Prizes
• Outstanding Achievement Award in Graduate Research
Jie Liu (Recipient), 2005
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities 2011 2015
- 3 Peer review responsibility
EMBO Reports (Journal)
Jie Liu (Peer reviewer)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Peer review responsibility
Journal of Integrative Neuroscience (Journal)
Jie Liu (Peer reviewer)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Peer review responsibility
Acta Pharmacological Sinica (Journal)
Jie Liu (Peer reviewer)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Peer review responsibility