Dong Liu, M.D., Ph.D.

Dong Liu, M.D., Ph.D. 

Associate Professor

Physiology

Cardiovascular Research Institute
Location: Research Wing D212
Phone: 404-756-8916
E-mail: dliu@msm.edu

Education

MEDICAL SCHOOL: 
Jiangxi Medical College
Degree:
Doctor of Medicine in Medicine


GRADUATE: 
Zhejiang University
Degree: 
Doctor of Philosophy in Cardiology

Research Interests

Being overweight or obese increases the risk of the development of many diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The differentiation of preadipocytes is related to the hyperplasia of adipose tissue. One of the interests in Dr. Liu’s laboratory is focused on the reduction of adipocyte differentiation in adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs).


Diabetes is a serious risk factor for ischemic heart disease, which represents a significant and growing source of morbidity and mortality despite advances in traditional treatments. Implantation of stem/progenitor cells is an emerging strategy for therapeutic angiogenesis. Administration of ASCs, which are easily acquired and are lack of surface histocompatibility antigens, is beneficial for the ischemic heart and limb likely due to a paracrine function rather than transdifferentiation. Besides secreted soluble growth factors, cell-released microvesicles/exosomes have been recently described as new mediators of intercellular communication. Therefore, another interest in Dr. Liu’s laboratory is to unravel the mechanistic aspects of the proangiogenic effect of ASCs-released microvesicles in detail. These studies will expand our currently scant knowledge of the proangiogenic effects of stem cell-released microvesicles and set the basis for the use of microvesicles as a novel therapeutic approach for ischemic diseases.

Publications

Liu D, Lin Y, Kang T, Huang B, Xu W, Garcia-Barrio M, Olatinwo M, Matthews R, Chen YE, Thompson WE. Mitochondrial dysfunction and adipogenic reduction by prohibitin silencing in 3T3-L1 cells. PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e34315. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034315. Epub 2012 Mar 30. PMID: 22479600

Gregory-Bass RC, Olatinwo M, Xu W, Matthews R, Stiles JK, Thomas K, Liu D, Tsang B, Thompson WE. Prohibitin silencing reverses stabilization of mitochondrial integrity and chemoresistance in ovarian cancer cells by increasing their sensitivity to apoptosis. Int J Cancer. 2008 May 1;122(9):1923-30. doi: 10.1002/ijc.23351. PMID: 18183577

Liu D, Hou J, Hu X, Wang X, Xiao Y, Mou Y, De Leon H. Neuronal chemorepellent Slit2 inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell migration by suppressing small GTPase Rac1 activation. Circ Res. 2006 Mar 3;98(4):480-9. Epub 2006 Jan 26. PMID: 16439689

Fielding PE, Chau P, Liu D, Spencer TA, Fielding CJ.  Mechanism of platelet-derived growth factor-dependent caveolin-1 phosphorylation: relationship to sterol binding and the role of serine-80. Biochemistry. 2004 Mar 9;43(9):2578-86. PMID: 14992595

Xiang MX, Liu D, Chen P, Lu JS. [Effect of PP60c-Src on angiotensin II-induced signal transduction in rat vascular smooth muscle cells]. Zhejiang Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban. 2003 Apr;32(2):126-30. Chinese. PMID: 12734937 

Liu D, Lu JS, Yin XL.  [Role of pp60c-src in mitogen-activated protein kinase activation of vascular smooth muscle cells]. Sheng Li Xue Bao. 2000 Dec;52(6):483-6. Chinese. PMID: 11941412


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