Junchen Liu

Dr. Liu's lab combines high resolution imaging and pharmacogenetic approaches coupled with mouse cancer models to study how glycosylated lipids regulate KRAS oncogenesis. Oncogenic KRAS mutations occur at a high rate in pancreatic and lung cancers; therefore, the lab employs multiple mouse cancer models to simulate these diseases. In mouse orthotropic PDAC and lung cancer models, KPC (KRAS-LSL.G12D/+, p53R172H/+; Cre+) cells stably expressing luciferase were implanted into the pancreas or lungs of syngeneic mice and monitored by in vivo luminescent imaging. In xenograft models, multiple human lung and pancreatic cancer cell lines carrying varying KRAS mutations were injected subcutaneously into nude mice to evaluate tumor response to different conditions. At the molecular level, Dr. Liu specializes in using transmission electron microscopy (EM) to image KRAS molecules in the plasma membrane using gold-conjugated antibodies. Coupled with spatial statistics, this powerful tool allows measurement of the abundance and extent of nanoclustering of KRAS molecules on the plasma membrane. Taken together, these techniques enable the lab to resolve KRAS biology at molecular, cellular, and whole animal levels. Dr. Liu believes in work-life balance and advocates implementing skill-centered research training program, rather than over-focused on outcomes, for motivated graduate students interested in lipid metabolism and mouse disease models.