Liu Lab
Faculty
Staff
Zhiping Wang, Ph.D. - Senior Research Associate
503-418-4275
Ashley Yoo - Research Assistant
Administrative
Clara Stemwedel
503-418-4273
Lab info
My research interest is to understand the molecular basis of skin interaction with the environment. As the first line of defense, innate immunity plays a central role in skin homeostasis. Altered innate immunity contributes to the pathogenesis of many inflammatory skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD), psoriasis, and cancer. My research has been focused on understanding the role of TRIM32 in AD, psoriasis, and cancer. TRIM32 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase with innate antiviral activity. We found that TRIM32 is overexpressed in psoriasis and downregulated in atopic dermatitis. My lab seeks to define the role of TRIM32 and its downstream targets in innate immunity in order to 1) address the questions why AD patients are susceptible to viral infection and Th2 polarized in response to infection, and 2) harness innate immune pathway in cancer therapy.
1. Liu Y, Wang Z, De La Torre R, Barling A, Tsujikawa T, Hornick N, Hanifin J, Simpson E, Wang Y, Swanzey E, Wortham A, Ding H, Coussens LM, Kulesz-Martin M. Trim32 deficiency enhances Th2 immunity and predisposes to features of atopic dermatitis. J Invest Dermatol. 2017;137(2):359-366. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=27720760
2. Liu Y, Bridges R, Wortham A, Kulesz-Martin M. NF-kB repression by PIAS3 mediated RelA SUMOylation. PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e37636. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=22649547
3. Liu Y, Lagowski JP, Gao S, Raymond JH, White CR, Kulesz-Martin MF. Regulation of the psoriatic chemokine CCL20 by E3 ligases Trim32 and Piasy in keratinocytes. J Invest Dermatol. 2010 May;130(5):1384-90. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=20054338