Jing Liu, PhD

Jing Liu, Ph.D. (Associate Professor, Surgery, Cancer Center) studies the molecular mechanisms that govern inflammation in pulmonary diseases, including COPD, asthma, and ARDS. Inflammation is part of the host defense system against invading pathogens, but deregulated inflammation is also known to play a crucial role in the pathology of various diseases, from inflammatory lung diseases to cancer.The molecular mechanism that controls inflammation and the pathological impact of deregulated inflammation on human diseases are incompletely understood. Our work discovered that the Myc-interacting zinc finger protein 1 (Miz1) plays a central role in signaling the resolution of inflammation through epigenetic regulation of C/EBPd and/or NF-kB activity by histone modifications, with implication in COPD.Additionally, our work uncovers the stress-activated protein kinase JNK2 as a fine tuner of inflammasome through promoting mitophagy, thereby maintaining immune homeostasis.