Section for Telomere Maintenance

Yie Liu, Ph.D. , Senior Investigator

A growing body of evidence underscores the significant impact of genome instability on cell growth impairment, cellular senescence, and apoptosis. These processes contribute to chronic diseases associated with aging and hereditary genetic disorders, including telomere biology disorders and Fanconi anemia, predominantly affecting children. Recent investigations by our team and others have shown that genomic instability is linked to environmental exposure, dysregulated cellular metabolism and biogenesis, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation. These factors contribute to various human disorders throughout the lifespan, including neurological disorders, lung fibrosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and diabetes.

Dr. Yie Liu’s research focuses on genome instability, cellular metabolism, and environmental factors that contribute to chronic organ decline in function and childhood disorders, with the goal to develop interventions to alleviate these conditions. Using a combination of cellular, genetic, and disease model approaches, Dr. Liu is interested in probing (1) key genes and molecular pathways modulating telomeres and genome maintenance; (2) the impact of telomere and genome maintenance deficiency on human diseases with accelerated aging and early-onset childhood disorders; 3) the underlying factors of chronic pathophysiology including metabolic imbalance, mitochondrial impairment, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and cellular senescence; and 4) intervention strategies to ameliorate chronic pathological changes, including the use of natural agents that function as senolytics, promote mitochondrial biogenesis, and enhance NAD/methionine metabolism. These studies aim to deepen our understanding of telomere shortening and genome instability in aging and disease, and pave the way for therapeutic strategies to treat childhood disorders and chronic diseases.