Biography
Dr. Yingjun Liu earned his Ph.D. from the Institute of Neuroscience at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he investigated the role of glial cells and neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease. He then pursued postdoctoral training in Adriano Aguzzi’s lab at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, exploring the pathogenesis of prion-related brain disorders. During this time, he developed a faithful mammalian brain aging modeling approach using organotypic brain slice cultures and revealed complex interactions among NG2 glia, microglia, and neurons in neurodegenerative diseases, bringing new perspectives to the field. Subsequently, Dr. Liu joined Randall Platt’s lab at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he pioneered in vivo whole-genome CRISPR screening technologies to systematically uncover the molecular mechanisms of brain aging and neurodegeneration. Currently, Dr. Liu is an Assistant Professor at the School of Biomedical Sciences and the Gerald Choa Neuroscience Institute at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, focusing on the molecular mechanisms of brain aging and neurodegeneration, as well as the development of interventional therapies and brain research technologies. Dr. Liu’s research has been published in journals including Science, Nature Neuroscience, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Communications Biology, and Glia. Additionally, Dr. Liu serves as a review expert for the French National Research Agency (ANR) and as a peer reviewer for leading journals such as the Journal of Experimental Medicine and the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Yingjun LIU
Assistant Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences
Research Interests
- investigating the mechanisms of brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases
- innovating therapeutic interventions against brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases
- developing advanced CRISPR and organotypic slice culture-based brain research technologies
Awards
- Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Innovation Award, The 27th China HI-TECH Fair, 2025
- Spark Grant, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), 2023
- Travel Stipend Award, Groningen-Jena Aging Meeting (G-JAM), 2021
- Forschungskredit Career Development Award, University of Zurich, 2020
- Outstanding Reviewer, Virologica Sinica, 2019 and 2020
Selected publications
- EBV infection and HLA-DR15 jointly drive multiple sclerosis by myelin peptide presentation.
Wang, J., Qiu, Y., Marti, Z., Li, F., Wacker, M., Oldrati, P., Mühlenbruch, L., Jin, L., Zhang, H., Xu, W., Li, T., Roschitzki, B., Faigle, W., Liu, Y., Nguyen, J., Lee, J., Haunerdinger, V., Hauri, M., Momburg, F., Bauer, J., Rammensee, H., Sospedra, M., Magliozz, R., Reynolds, R., Walz, J., Martin, R*.
Cell. 2026 Jan;189(2):569-584.e14 - NG2 glia protect against prion neurotoxicity by inhibiting microglia-to-neuron prostaglandin E2 signaling.
Liu, Y.*, Guo, J., Matoga, M., Korotkova, M., Jakobsson, P., Aguzzi, A*.
Nature Neuroscience. 2024 May 27;27(8):1534-1544 - An arrayed genome‐wide perturbation screen identifies the ribonucleoprotein Hnrnpk as rate‐limiting for prion propagation.
Avar, M., Heinzer, D., Thackray, A., Liu, Y., Hruska-Plochan, M., Sellitto, S., Schaper, E., Pease, D., Yin, J., Lakkaraju, A., Emmenegger, M., Losa, M., Chincisan, A., Hornemann, S., Polymenidou, M., Bujdoso, R., Aguzzi, A*.
The EMBO Journal. 2022 Oct 18;41(23):EMBJ2022112338 - Brain aging is faithfully modelled in organotypic brain slices and accelerated by prions.
Liu, Y.*, Senatore A., Sorce, S., Nuvolone M., Guo J., Aguzzi, A*.
Communications Biology. 2022 Jun 8;5(1):557 - NG2 glia are required for maintaining microglia homeostatic state.
Liu, Y.*, Aguzzi, A*.
Glia. 2019 Sep 13;68(2):345-355 - Immunotherapy for neurodegeneration?
Liu, Y.*, Aguzzi, A.*
Science. 2019 Apr 12;364(6436):130-131 - SARM1 deficiency up-regulates XAF1, promotes neuronal apoptosis, and accelerates prion disease.
Zhu, C., Li, B., Frontzek, K., Liu, Y., Aguzzi, A*.
Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2019 Mar 6;216(4):743-756 - Lymphocyte activation gene 3 (Lag3) expression is increased in prion infections but does not modify disease progression.
Liu, Y.*, Sorce, S., Nuvolone, M., Domange, J., Aguzzi, A.*
Scientific Reports. 2018 Oct 2;8(1):14600 - A role for astroglia in prion diseases.
Aguzzi, A*., Liu, Y.*
Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2017 Nov 21;214(12):3477-3479 - Upregulation of alphaB-crystallin expression in the substantia nigra of patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Liu, Y., Zhou, Q., Tang, M., Fu, N., Shao, W., Zhang, S., Yin, Y., Zeng, R., Wang, X., Hu, G., Zhou, J*.
Neurobiology of Aging. 2015 Apr;36(4):1686-1691
