Associate Professor

Office: BSB B1-014
Email: dliao@ufl.edu
Phone: (352) 273-8188

Education and Training

Ph.D. – University of British Columbia, Canada (1993)
M.S. – Peking University, China (1986)
B.S. – Hunan University, China (1983)

Postdoctoral Training

Yale University School of Medicine (1994-1997)

Research Interests

Protein lysine acetyltransferases (KATs) catalyze the acetyl attachment to lysine side chains of protein substrates that include histones and many other cellular proteins. Deacetylases (HDACs) catalyze the reverse reaction to remove the attached acetyl group. Acetylation of protein substrates impacts their stability and functions in a variety of cellular pathways such as gene transcription, intracellular trafficking and metabolisms. Both KATs and HDACs are implicated in human diseases and represent rational therapeutic targets. The research in the Liao laboratory focuses on understanding cell-biological functions of these enzymes in virology, epigenetics and cancer biology, as well as on discovery, characterization, and optimization of novel small-molecule inhibitors of these enzymes for cancer therapy. In collaboration with the high-throughput screen facilities at Scripps Florida at Jupiter and the Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute at Lake Nona, we aim at identifying novel lead KAT and HDAC inhibitors. We use in vitro biochemical as well as cell-based assays to validate their activities. We also collaborate with medicinal chemists to optimize the lead compounds to improve the target potency and specificity as well as drug-like properties of the lead compounds. We use mouse tumor models to determine in vivo anticancer efficacy of the small-molecule inhibitors. Ultimately, our optimized KAT and HDAC inhibitors may lead to novel therapy for treating cancer patients and other human diseases.

References

Mahmud I, Liao D (2019) DAXX in cancer: phenomena, processes, mechanisms and regulation. Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Jul 27. pii: gkz634. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkz634. | PubMed

Huo Z, Zhu L, Ma T, Liu, H, Han, S, Liao D, Zhao J and Tseng G (2019) Two-way Horizontal and Vertical Omics Integration for Disease Subtype Discovery (2019) Statistics in Biosciences. Accepted for publication

Li D, Tian G, Wang J, Zhao LY, Co O, Underill ZC, Mymryk JS, Claessens F, Dehm SM, Daaka Y, Liao D. (2018) Inhibition of androgen receptor transactivation function by adenovirus type 12 E1A undermines prostate cancer cell survival. Prostate, 78(15):1140-1156. doi: 10.1002/pros.23689. | PubMed

Masannat J, Purayil HT, Zhang Y, Russin M, Mahmud I, Kim W, Liao D, Daaka Y (2018) βArrestin2 Mediates Renal Cell Carcinoma Tumor Growth. Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 20;8(1):4879. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23212-w. PMID: 29559707 | PubMed

Li Q., Wang J, Liao D, Ai J, Jin L, Gao, Q (2018). Degradation of DAXX by adenovirus type 12 E1B-55K circumvents chemoresistance of ovarian cancer to cisplatin. Virology 521, 118-128, doi:10.1016/j.virol.2018.05.026. | PubMed

Liao D (2017) CBP/p300 Bromodomain Mediates Amyloid Formation. Cell Chem Biol. 24(2):128-129. | PubMed

Wang Y1, Li D1, Luo J, Tian G, Zhao LY, Liao D (2016) Intrinsic cellular signaling mechanisms determine the sensitivity of cancer cells to virus-induced apoptosis. Sci Rep. 6:37213 | PubMed

Wang, Y, Stowe, RL, Pinello, CE, Tian, G, Madoux, F, Li, D., Zhao, LY, Li, JL, Wang, Y, Wang, YR, Ma, H, Hodder, P, Roush, WR, and Liao, D (2015). Identification of HDAC Inhibitors with Benzoylhydrazide scaffold that Selectively Inhibit Class I HDACs. Chem Biol, 22(2):273-84. | PubMed

Liao, D (2015). Identification and characterization of small-molecule inhibitors of lysine acetyltransferases. Methods Mol. Biol. 1238:539-48. | PubMed

Yang, H, Salz, TH, Zajac-Kaye, M, Liao, D, Huang, S, and Qiu, Y (2014). The overexpression of histone deacetylases in cancer cells is controlled by interplay of transcription factors and epigenetic modulators. FASEB J, 28(10):4265-79. | PubMed

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