Profile

  • Organization
    Arizona State University

  • Employment Status
    Enter your Employment Status.

  • Web Site
    Enter your Website.

  • Telephone
    Enter your Phone Number

  • Address(s)
    Enter an Address

  • Biography

    Wei Liu is an Assistant Professor in School of Molecular Sciences (SMS) and The Center for Applied Structural Discovery (CASD) at Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University (ASU). Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from The Ohio State University in 2007, where he focused on understanding the phase behavior of lipids and developing the lipidic cubic phase (LCP) technology to characterize membrane proteins. Thereafter, he joined Dr. Ray Stevens’ and Dr. Vadim Cherezov’s laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). At TSRI, Dr. Liu dedicated himself to the continuous innovations on the LCP technology, and successfully applied LCP technology to resolving the crystal structures of several important human G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), including the structure of the human A2A adenosine receptor at 1.8 angstrom resolution, the best resolution that has been achieved for any human membrane proteins by far, and a most recent breakthrough in combining LCP with X-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) technology to achieve high-resolution structures of human serotonin receptors from sub-10-micrometer microcrystals. The research in Liu group focuses on the structural characterization of human membrane proteins that are critical for cancer development and signaling pathways. The lab also continues to innovate and develop LCP technology to improve structural studies of membrane proteins and to enable high-throughput screening of compounds/antibodies that selectively stabilize drug targets in specific conformations. Within the NSF BioXFEL Science and Technology Center (STC), Dr. Liu will establish a Nanocrystallization-and-Characterization-in-LCP (NCIL) platform for the structural/functional studies of membrane protein complexes and their conformational changes. This platform will initially be open to BioXFEL STC members and gradually transition to include non-STC users.


  • Interests
    Enter your Interests.

  • Citizenship
    Enter your Country of Citizenship.

  • Residence
    Enter your Country of Residency.

  • Racial Background
    Enter Racial Background.

  • Receive Email Updates
    Unanswered