Investigators

Summary

The Liu Lab studies 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.