Nian Liu
Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
E-mail：liunian88@tsinghua.edu.cn
Address：北京市清华大学生命科学学院，刘念实验室 100084
Reasearch Area:
Transposons, also called mobile DNA elements or ‘jumping genes’, are abundant in almost all living things. In humans, transposons occupy about 50% of the DNA and are still able to mobilize in the human genome. Recent studies show that transposons can affect embryonic development, neurogenesis, and are related with over 100 different types of diseases. However, the detailed mechanism and functions of transposons remain largely unexplored. Through ‘wet lab’ and ‘dry lab’ techniques, we will study the mechanism of transposon regulation and the roles of transposons in development and disease.
Selected Publications:
1. Zhou Z*, Zhu S*, Hong Y, Jin G, Ma R, Lin F, Zhang Y, Lee HY#, Liu N#. Composite transposons with bivalent histone marks function as RNA-dependent enhancers in cell fate regulation. Cell 188, 5878–5894 (2025) https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00803-7
2. Li X*, Bie L*, Wang Y*, Hong Y*, Zhou Z, Fan Y, Yan X, Tao Y, Huang C, Zhang Y, Sun X, Li J, Zhang J, Chang Z, Xi Q, Meng A, Shen X, Xie W, Liu N#. LINE-1 transcription activates long-range gene expression. Nature Genetics 56, 1494-1502 (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-024-01789-5
3. Hong Y*, Bie L*, Zhang T*, Yan X, Jin G, Chen Z, Wang Y, Li X, Pei G, Zhang Y, Hong Y, Gong L, Li P, Xie W, Zhu Y, Shen X, Liu N#. SAFB restricts contact domain boundaries associated with L1 chimeric transcription. Molecular Cell 84, 598-615 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2024.03.021
4. Li X, Liu N#. Advances in understanding LINE-1 regulation and function in the human genome. Trends in Genetics 7 (18), 577-589 (2025). [Cover article & Featured Article] https://www.cell.com/trends/genetics/fulltext/S0168-9525(25)00103-9
5. Hong Y, Liu N#. Transposable elements in health and disease: molecular basis and clinical implications. Chinese Medical Journal 138 (18), 2220-2233 (2025) https://journals.lww.com/cmj/fulltext/9900/transposable_elements_in_health_and_disease_.1694.aspx
6. Liu, N.*, Lee, C.*, Swigut, T., Grow, E., Gu, B., Bassik, M.#, and Wysocka, J#. Selective silencing of euchromatic L1s revealed by genome-wide screens for L1 regulators. Nature 553, 228-232 (2018).
7. Liu, N., Dai, Q., Zheng, G., He, C., Parisien, M.#, Pan, T#. N6-methyladenosine-dependent RNA structural switches regulate RNA–protein interactions. Nature 518, 560-564 (2015).
8. Liu, N.*, Pan, T.* N6-methyladenosine-coded RNA Epigenetics. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 23, 98-102 (2016).
9. Liu, N.*, Zhou, K.*, Parisien, M., Dai, Q., Diatchenko, L., and Pan, T#. N6-methyladenosine alters RNA structure to regulate binding of a low-complexity protein. Nucleic Acids Res. 45 (10), 6051-6063 (2017).
10. Liu, N., Parisien, M., Dai, Q., Zheng, G., He, C., and Pan, T#. Probing N6-methyl-adenosine RNA modification status at single nucleotide resolution in mRNA and long noncoding RNA. RNA 19, 1848-1856 (2013).
