Haijun Liu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Biology
Courses Taught
General chemistry; Biochemistry; Protein Chemistry; Biochemistry lab; Current Approaches in Plant Research-protein structural mass spectrometry (module)
Education
Ph.D., Biochemistry, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, 2008
M.S., Plant Biology, Dept. of Biology, Sichuan University, 1996
B.A., (graduated with honors) Biology, Dept. of Biology, Hebei Normal University,
1993
Research Interests
Liu lab research seeks to broadly understand the structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules that dictate the solar energy capture and transformation. This area of research spans a range of topics and is well represented in the modern biophysics’ themes that interface with informational quantification/digitization era. Current areas of research include how membrane bound protein complexes that are involved in energy capture and transduction interact to carry out their chemical reactions, and how the membrane protein complexes change conformation to generate structural queue in synergy with other protein complexes in a larger scale energy flow pathway. By using state-of-the-art mass spectrometers coupled with in-depth biochemical/gene engineering technologies, we take a systematic approach to study photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) dynamics upon changing environmental schemes, such as light and temperature. We strive to translate our structural findings into light/environmental adaptation context.
Labs and Facilities
Lab website:
Publications and Media Placements
Lin, Y., Moyle, AB., Beaumont, VA., Liu, LL., Polleck, S., Liu, H., Shi, H., Rouse,
JC., Kim, HY., Zhang, Y., Gross, ML. (2023) Characterization of Higher Order Structural
Changes of a Thermally Stressed Monoclonal Antibody via Mass Spectrometry Footprinting
and Other Biophysical Approaches Analytical Chemistry 95, 46, 16840-16849
Niedzwiedzki, M.D., Magdaong, N.C.M., Su, X*, Adir, N., Keren, N., Liu, H. (2023)
Mass spectrometry and spectroscopy characterization of a tetrameric photosystem I
supercomplex from Leptolyngbya ohadii, a desiccation-tolerant cyanobacterium Biochim Biophys Acta (Bioenergetics) 1864 (2), 148955 * Undergraduate researcher
Liu, H. (2023) Intramolecular allostery in cyanobacterial phycobilisome as revealed
by quantitative mass spectrometry Biochemistry 62, 7, 1307-1320
Mummadisetti, M., Su, L*., Liu, H. (2023) An approach to nearest neighbor analysis
of pigment-protein complexes using chemical cross-linking in combination with mass
spectrometry Methods in Enzymology 680, 139-162* Undergraduate researcher
Puskar, R Truong, C.D., Swain, K., Chowdhury, S., Chan, K-Y., Li, S., Cheng, K-W.,
Wang, T.Y., Poh, Y-P., Mazor, Y., Liu, H., Chou, T-F., Nannenga, B.L., Chiu, P-L (2022)
Molecular asymmetry of a photosynthetic supercomplex from green sulfur bacteria Nature Communications 13 (1), 5824
Liu, H. (2022) AlphaFold and structural mass spectrometry enable interrogations on
the intrinsically disordered regions in cyanobacterial light-harvesting complex phycobilisome
J Mol Biol. 434(21):167831. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167831.
Niedzwiedzki, M.D., Magdaong, N.C.M., Su, X*, Liu, H. (2022) Biochemical and spectroscopic
characterizations of the oligomeric antenna of the coral symbiotic Symbiodiniaceae
Fugacium kawagutii Photosynthesis Res doi: 10.1007/s11120-022-00951-6 * Undergraduate researcher
Johnson, V.M., Biswas, S., Roose, J.L., Pakrasi, H.B., and Liu, H. (2022) Psb27, a
photosystem II assembly protein, enables quenching of excess light energy during its
participation in the PSII lifecycle. Photosynth Res Jan 5th doi: 10.1007/s11120-021-00895-3.
Magdaong, N.C.M., Buhrmaster, J.C., Faries, K.M., Liu, H., Tira, G.A., Lindsey, J.S.,
Hanson, D.K., Holten, D.J., Laible, P.D., and Kirmaier, C. (2021) In Situ, protein-mediated
generation of a photochemically active chlorophyll analogue in a mutant bacterial
photosynthetic reaction center. Biochemistry 60 (16):1260:1275
Liu, H., Zhang, M.M., Weisz, D.A., Cheng, M., Pakrasi, H.B., Blankenship, R.E. (2021)
Structure of Cyanobacterial Phycobilisome Core Structure by Structural Modeling and
Chemical Cross-linking. Sci Adv. 7 (2), eaba5743
Sonani, R.R., Roszak, A.W., Liu, H., Gross, M.L., Blankenship, R.E., Madamwar, D.,
and Cogdell, R.J. (2020) Revisiting high-resolution crystal structure of Phomidium rubidum phycocyanin. Photosynthesis Res 144, 349-360
*Lou, W., *Niedzwiedzki, M.D, Blankenship, R.E., and Liu, H. (2020) Binding of red
form of Orange Carotenoid Protein (OCP) to phycobilisome is not sufficient for quenching.
Biochim Biophys Acta (Bioenergetics). 1861(3):148155 * these authors contribute equally
Honors and Awards
- Research Paper Award, 2013, Rebeiz Foundation for Basic Research, dedicated to promoting fundamental research nationally and internationally
- Phi Kappa Phi, 2003, Chapter 10, NDSU
- Excellent Young Lecturer with teaching aptitude (Bronze medal), 1998, Hebei Normal University
- Guanghua Prize (Excellent Graduate Scholarship), 1994, Sichuan University
- Graduate with honor, 1993, Hebei Normal University