We study several medically important bacterial virulence factors, including anthrax toxins, in bacterial pathogenesis. Through investigating the interactions of these protein toxins and their mammalian hosts, we are interested in discovering the toxins’ molecular targets and understanding the molecular mechanisms of pathophysiology. We study how these toxins alter key signal transduction pathways, in particular the RAS and ERK pathways, in cancer cells and tumor stromal cells, and we use the knowledge obtained to design and develop novel bacterial toxin-based anti-tumor drugs with high tumor specificity. We are also interested in using this approach to design and develop novel biological-based therapeutics to selectively eliminate senescent cells.
- MD, Beijing Medical University, 1987
- MS, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, 1990
- PhD, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, 1993
- Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
- Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institutes of Health, 2001
Education & Training
Liu J, Finkel T, Liu S. In vivo cell-type specific secretome profiling. Methods Cell Biol. 2026;200:1-19. PMID: 41276343.
Liu J, Cao Q, Ewing M, Zuo Z, Kennerdell JR, Finkel T, Leppla SH, Liu S. ATP depletion in anthrax edema toxin pathogenesis. PLoS Pathog. 2025 Apr 1;21(4):e1013017. PMID: 40168442.
Liu J, Zuo Z, Ewing M, Cao Q, Cao L, Li Q, Finkel T, Leppla SH, Liu S. ERK pathway reactivation prevents anthrax toxin lethality in mice. Nat Microbiol. 2025 May;10(5):1145-1155. PMID: 40155776.
Zuo Z, Liu J, Sun Z, Cheng YW, Ewing M, Bugge TH, Finkel T, Leppla SH, Liu S. ERK and c-Myc signaling in host-derived tumor endothelial cells is essential for solid tumor growth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jan 3;120(1):e2211927120. PMID: 36574698.
Zuo Z, Liu J, Sun Z, Silverstein R, Zou M, Finkel T, Bugge TH, Leppla SH, Liu S. A potent tumor-selective ERK pathway inactivator with high therapeutic index. PNAS Nexus. 2022 Jul 1;1(3):pgac104. PMID: 35899070.
Liu J, Jang JY, Pirooznia M, Liu S, Finkel T. The secretome mouse provides a genetic platform to delineate tissue-specific in vivo secretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jan 19;118(3):e2005134118. PMID: 33431665.
Mendenhall MA, Liu S, Portley MK, O'Mard D, Fattah R, Szabo R, Bugge TH, Khillan JS, Leppla SH, Moayeri M. Anthrax lethal factor cleaves regulatory subunits of phosphoinositide-3 kinase to contribute to toxin lethality. Nat Microbiol. 2020 Dec;5(12):1464-1471. PMID: 32895527.
Liu J, Zuo Z, Sastalla I, Liu C, Jang JY, Sekine Y, Li Y, Pirooznia M, Leppla SH, Finkel T, Liu S. Sequential CRISPR-Based Screens Identify LITAF and CDIP1 as the Bacillus cereus Hemolysin BL Toxin Host Receptors. Cell Host Microbe. 2020 Sep 9;28(3):402-410.e5. PMID: 32544461.
Liu J, Zuo Z, Zou M, Finkel T, Liu S. Identification of the transcription factor Miz1 as an essential regulator of diphthamide biosynthesis using a CRISPR-mediated genome-wide screen. PLoS Genet. 2020 Oct 15;16(10):e1009068. PMID: 33057331.
Liu S, Liu J, Ma Q, Cao L, Fattah RJ, Yu Z, Bugge TH, Finkel T, Leppla SH. Solid tumor therapy by selectively targeting stromal endothelial cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Jul 12;113(28):E4079-87. PMID: 27357689.
Liu S, Zhang Y, Moayeri M, Liu J, Crown D, Fattah RJ, Wein AN, Yu ZX, Finkel T, Leppla SH. Key tissue targets responsible for anthrax-toxin-induced lethality. Nature. 2013 Sep 5;501(7465):63-8. PMID: 23995686.
- First Place Award for Science and Technology Advancement issued by Ministry of Health, PRC, 1995
- NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE), 2001
- Member, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 2003
- Member, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 2003
- Research work published in the PNAS (2003, 100, 657-662) using engineered anthrax toxins to target cancer attracted considerable press attention, 2003
- Research work published in the PNAS (2003, 100, 657-662) using engineered anthrax toxins to target cancer attracted considerable press attention, 2003
- US Government Service Award, 2011
- Academic Editor, the Journal of Toxins, 2013
- Research work published in Nature (2013, 501(7465):63-68) was a subject of NIH press release, covered by seven News outlets, 2013
- Research work published in Nature (2013, 501(7465):63-68) was a subject of NIH press release, covered by seven News outlets, 2013
