BS in Chemistry, National Taiwan University MS in Organic Chemistry, National Chiao Tung University PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA Postdoc in Chemical Biology, Stanford Medical School Fu-Sen was born in Taipei, Taiwan. After receiving his BS in Chemistry, he conducted MS research in natural product synthesis under the guidance of Dr. Tse-Lok Ho. He then joined the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla for PhD studies in Dr. Chi-Huey Wong's group where he designed and synthesized RNA-targeting small molecules and developed binding and specificity assays. He did a postdoctoral research with Dr. Gerald Crabtree at Stanford Medical School where he investigated the functions of Brg chromatin remodeling complex and developed a new chemically induced proximity technique based on abscisic acid. He moved to UNM at 2012 to start his independent research group. His research focuses on the development of novel chemical biology tools for biomedical research.

We are an interdisciplinary research group that applies the concept of controlling proximity between molecules to regulate their interactions and downstream biological effects. We combines the techniques of synthetic chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, imaging and bioengineering to develop novel tools and molecules to study important biological questions and to develop novel therapies. The current focuses in the lab include: Develop new strategies for spatiotemporal regulation of microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs. Engineering novel biological functions in mammalian systems using chemical and synthetic biology approaches. We will apply these tools to study cancer biology and synaptic plasticity and develop new therapeutic strategies.

Chen, T.#, Gao, D.#, Zhang, R., Zeng, G.,Yan, H., Lim, E., Liang, F-S.* "Chemically Controlled Epigenome Editing Through an Inducible dCas9 System" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b06555. Yan, H., Bhattarai, U., Guo, Z., Liang, F. -S.* "Regulating miRNA-21 Biogenesis by Bi-functional Small Molecules" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 4987. Zeng, G.#, Li, H.#, Wei, Y., Xuan, W., Zhang, R., Breden, L. E., Wang, W.*, Liang, F. -S.* "Engineering Iron Responses in Mammalian Cells by Signal-Induced Protein Proximity" ACS Synth. Biol. 2017, 6, 921. Xuan, W., Pan, R., Li, G., Cao, Y., Liang, F. -S., Liu, K.*, Wang, W.* "Reaction-based "off-on" fluorescent probe enabling detection of endogenous labile Fe2+ and imaging Zn2+-induced Fe2+ flux in living cells and elevated Fe2+ in ischemic stroke" Bioconjugate Chem. 2016, 27, 302. Zeng, G., Xuan, W., Zhang, R., Wang, W., Liang, F. -S.* "Constructing de novo H2O2 Signaling via Induced Protein Proximity" ACS Chem. Biol. 2015, 10, 1404. Wright, C. W., Guo, Z. -F, Liang, F. -S.* "Light control of cellular processes using photocaged abscisic acid" ChemBioChem, 2015,16, 254. Guo, Z. -F., Zhang, R., Liang, F. -S.* "Facile Functionalization of FK506 for Biological Studies by the Thiol-Ene ‘Click’ Reaction"RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 11400. Jin, Q., Liang, F. -S.* "Chemical Tools for Spatiotemporal Regulation of microRNAs" Org. Chem. Curr. Res. 2013, 2, e121. Liang, F. -S., Crabtree, G. R. "Small Molecule Induced Proximity" Chembiomolecular Science: at the Frontier of Chemistry and Biology, 2012, 115. Liang, F. -S., Ho, W. Q., Crabtree, G. R. "Engineering the ABA Plant Stress Pathway for Regulation of Induced Proximity" Sci. Signal.2011, 4, rs2. Highlighted in: "Inducible Gene Expression in Mammals: Plants Add to the Menu" Sci. Signal.2011, 4, pe13. "ABA Remastered" Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol.2011, 18, 403. Liang, F. -S., Crabtree, G. R. "Developmental Biology: The Early Heart Remodelled" Nature2009, 459, 654. Liang, F. -S., Greenberg, W. A., Hammond, J. A., Hoffmann, J, Head, S. R., Wong, C. -H. "Evaluation of RNA Binding Specificity of Aminoglycosides with DNA Microarrays" Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.2006, 103, 12311. Liang, F. -S., Brik, A., Lin, Y.-C., Elder, J. H., Wong, C. -H. "Epoxide Opening in Water for Rapid Inhibitor Discovery in Microtiter Plate and in situ Screening" Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2006, 14, 1058. Fridman, M., Belakhov, V., Lee, L. V., Liang, F. -S., Wong, C. -H. & Baasov, T. "Dual Effect of Synthetic Aminoglycosides: Antibacterial Activity Against Bacillus anthracis and Inhibition of Anthrax Lethal Factor" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 447. Liang, F. -S., Wang, S.-K., Nakatani, T. & Wong, C. -H. "Targeting RNAs by Tobramycin Analogs" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 6496. Wu, C. -Y., Jan, J. -T., Ma, S. -H., Kuo, C. -J., Juan, H. -F., Cheng, Y. -S. E., Hsu, H. -H., Huang, H. -C., Wu, D., Brik, A., Liang, F. -S., Liu, R. -S., Fang, J. -M., Chen, S. -T., Liang, P. H., Wong, C. -H. "Small Molecules Targeting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Human Coronavirus" Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.2004, 101, 10012. Lee, L. V., Bower, K. E., Liang, F. -S., Shi, J., Wu, D., Sucheck, S. J., Vogt, P. K., Wong, C. -H. "Inhibition of the Proteolytic Activity of Anthrax Lethal Factor by Aminoglycosides" J. Am. Soc. Chem. 2004, 126, 4774. Agnelli, F., Sucheck, S. J., Marby, K. A., Rabuka, D., Yao, S. -L., Sears, P. S., Liang, F. -S., Wong, C. -H. "Dimeric Aminoglycosides as Antibiotics" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 1562. Wong, C. -H., Liang, F. -S. "Surface Plasmon Resonance Study of RNA-Aminoglycoside Interactions" Methods Enzymol. 2003, 362, 340. Ho, T. -L., Liang, F. -S. "Synthesis of ent-Herbasolide" Chem. Commun.1996, 1887.