Conjoint Senior Lecturer

Dr Renjing Liu

Medicine & Health
School of Biomedical Sciences

I am a stem cell biologist with specialised training in vascular biology and epigenetics. I obtained my Bachelors (Hons) and PhD from the University of Sydney, and was awarded the international Sir Keith Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral training at Yale University. I trained at the Yale Stem Cell Center with one of the pioneers in induced pluripotent stem cells and the epigenetics field. After receiving the prestigious Yale Browne-Cox Fellowship, I completed a second postdoctoral traineeship at the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center where I made the seminal discovery of a master regulator that controls vascular smooth muscle cells phenotype (the main cell type found in blood vessel walls).

I returned to Australia in late 2013 after being awarded the Inaugural David Richmond Fellowship to head the Agnes Ginges Laboratory for Diseases of the Aorta at the Centenary Institute. I joined the VCCRI Faculty in July 2020 as the head of the Vascular Epigenetic Laboratory and part of the Institute's Faculty.

My work has been supported NH&MRC, Perpetual, National Australia Bank, and NSW Health amongst others. I was a recipient of the National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship and the University of Sydney SOAR Award. My lab focuses on finding ways to convert pathological vascular smooth muscle cells into the physiological cell type as a way to treat cardiovascular diseases.

  • Book Chapters | 2012
    Ding M; Rzucidlo EM; Davey JC; Xie Y; Liu R; Jin Y; Stavola L; Martin KA, 2012, 'Adiponectin in the heart and vascular system.', in , pp. 289 - 319, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-398313-8.00011-7
  • Journal articles | 2021
    Zeng Z; Xia L; Fan S; Zheng J; Qin J; Fan X; Liu Y; Tao J; Liu Y; Li K; Ling Z; Bu Y; Martin KA; Hwa J; Liu R; Tang WH, 2021, 'Circular RNA CircMAP3K5 Acts as a MicroRNA-22-3p Sponge to Promote Resolution of Intimal Hyperplasia Via TET2-Mediated Smooth Muscle Cell Differentiation', Circulation, vol. 143, pp. 354 - 371, http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.120.049715
    Journal articles | 2019
    Cakouros D; Hemming S; Gronthos K; Liu R; Zannettino A; Shi S; Gronthos S, 2019, 'Specific functions of TET1 and TET2 in regulating mesenchymal cell lineage determination', Epigenetics Chromatin, vol. 12, pp. 3, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13072-018-0247-4
    Journal articles | 2019
    Zeng Z; Xia L; Fan X; Ostriker AC; Yarovinsky T; Su M; Zhang Y; Peng X; Xie Y; Pi L; Gu X; Chung SK; Martin KA; Liu R; Hwa J; Tang WH, 2019, 'Platelet-derived miR-223 promotes a phenotypic switch in arterial injury repair', J Clin Invest, vol. 129, pp. 1372 - 1386, http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/jci124508
    Journal articles | 2018
    Choi JP; Wang R; Yang X; Wang X; Wang L; Ting KK; Foley M; Cogger V; Yang Z; Liu F; Han Z; Liu R; Baell J; Zheng X, 2018, 'Ponatinib (AP24534) inhibits MEKK3-KLF signaling and prevents formation and progression of cerebral cavernous malformations', Sci Adv, vol. 4, pp. eaau0731, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau0731
    Journal articles | 2018
    Fang H; Yang S; Luo Y; Zhang C; Rao Y; Liu R; Feng Y; Yu J, 2018, 'Notoginsenoside R1 inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, migration and neointimal hyperplasia through PI3K/Akt signaling', Sci Rep, vol. 8, pp. 7595, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25874-y
    Journal articles | 2017
    Jin Y; Xie Y; Ostriker AC; Zhang X; Liu R; Lee MY; Leslie KL; Tang W; Du J; Lee SH; Wang Y; Sessa WC; Hwa J; Yu J; Martin KA, 2017, 'Opposing Actions of AKT (Protein Kinase B) Isoforms in Vascular Smooth Muscle Injury and Therapeutic Response', Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, vol. 37, pp. 2311 - 2321, http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/atvbaha.117.310053
    Journal articles | 2017
    Liu R; Lo L; Lay AJ; Zhao Y; Ting KK; Robertson EN; Sherrah AG; Jarrah S; Li H; Zhou Z; Hambly BD; Richmond DR; Jeremy RW; Bannon PG; Vadas MA; Gamble JR, 2017, 'ARHGAP18 Protects Against Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Formation by Mitigating the Synthetic and Proinflammatory Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype', Circ Res, vol. 121, pp. 512 - 524, http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/circresaha.117.310692
    Journal articles | 2017
    Zhang C; Syed TW; Liu R; Yu J, 2017, 'Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, Autophagy, and Inflammation in Cardiovascular Disease', Front Cardiovasc Med, vol. 4, pp. 29, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2017.00029
    Journal articles | 2016
    Liu R; Bauer AJ; Martin KA, 2016, 'A New Editor of Smooth Muscle Phenotype', Circ Res, vol. 119, pp. 401 - 403, http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.309218
    Journal articles | 2016
    Liu R; Kim KY; Jung YW; Park IH, 2016, 'Dnmt1 regulates the myogenic lineage specification of muscle stem cells', Sci Rep, vol. 6, pp. 35355, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep35355
    Journal articles | 2016
    Lowery JW; Ankrum JA; Kokabu S; Liu R, 2016, 'Targeted Strategies to Modulate Stem-Cell-Relevant Pathways', Stem Cells Int, vol. 2016, pp. 1859456, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1859456
    Journal articles | 2015
    Liu R; Leslie KL; Martin KA, 2015, 'Epigenetic regulation of smooth muscle cell plasticity', Biochim Biophys Acta, vol. 1849, pp. 448 - 453, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbagrm.2014.06.004
    Journal articles | 2014
    Liu R; Jin Y; Tang W; Qin L; Zhang X; Tellides G; Hwa J; Yu J; Martin KA, 2014, 'Response to letter regarding article, "ten-eleven translocation-2 (TET2) is a master regulator of smooth muscle cell plasticity"', Circulation, vol. 130, pp. e72, http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.114.010272
    Journal articles | 2014
    Qin L; Huang Q; Zhang H; Liu R; Tellides G; Min W; Yu L, 2014, 'SOCS1 prevents graft arteriosclerosis by preserving endothelial cell function', J Am Coll Cardiol, vol. 63, pp. 21 - 29, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2013.08.694
    Journal articles | 2014
    Tang WH; Stitham J; Jin Y; Liu R; Lee SH; Du J; Atteya G; Gleim S; Spollett G; Martin K; Hwa J, 2014, 'Aldose reductase-mediated phosphorylation of p53 leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and damage in diabetic platelets', Circulation, vol. 129, pp. 1598 - 1609, http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.113.005224
    Journal articles | 2014
    Zhou HJ; Chen X; Huang Q; Liu R; Zhang H; Wang Y; Jin Y; Liang X; Lu L; Xu Z; Min W, 2014, 'AIP1 mediates vascular endothelial cell growth factor receptor-3-dependent angiogenic and lymphangiogenic responses', Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, vol. 34, pp. 603 - 615, http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/atvbaha.113.303053
    Journal articles | 2013
    Liu R; Jin Y; Tang WH; Qin L; Zhang X; Tellides G; Hwa J; Yu J; Martin KA, 2013, 'Ten-eleven translocation-2 (TET2) is a master regulator of smooth muscle cell plasticity', Circulation, vol. 128, pp. 2047 - 2057., internal-pdf://2075377476/Circulation-2013-Liu-2047-57.pdf%20internal-pdf://2820138988/Liu-2013-Ten-eleven%20translocation-2%20(TET2)%20is.pdf
    Journal articles | 2012
    Cairns DM; Liu R; Sen M; Canner JP; Schindeler A; Little DG; Zeng L, 2012, 'Interplay of Nkx3.2, Sox9 and Pax3 regulates chondrogenic differentiation of muscle progenitor cells', PLoS One, vol. 7, pp. e39642, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039642
    Journal articles | 2012
    Ding M; Rzucidlo EM; Davey JC; Xie Y; Liu R; Jin Y; Stavola L; Martin KA, 2012, 'Adiponectin in the heart and vascular system', Vitam Horm, vol. 90, pp. 289 - 319, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-398313-8.00011-7
    Journal articles | 2011
    Liu R; Birke O; Morse A; Peacock L; Mikulec K; Little DG; Schindeler A, 2011, 'Myogenic progenitors contribute to open but not closed fracture repair', BMC Musculoskelet Disord, vol. 12, pp. 288, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-12-288
    Journal articles | 2010
    Birke O; Liu R; McDonald M; Morse A; Yu N; Schindeler A; Little D, 2010, 'Muscle cell contribution to intramembranous bone healing in a metaphyseal defect model in mice', Bone, vol. 46, pp. S45 - S45, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2010.01.101
    Journal articles | 2010
    Gaines P; Liu R; Park IH, 2010, 'Research highlights', Regen Med, vol. 5, pp. 501 - 503, http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/rme.10.47
    Journal articles | 2010
    Schindeler A; Morse A; Peacock L; Mikulec K; Yu NY; Liu R; Kijumnuayporn S; McDonald MM; Baldock PA; Ruys AJ; Little DG, 2010, 'Rapid cell culture and pre-clinical screening of a transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) inhibitor for orthopaedics', BMC Musculoskelet Disord, vol. 11, pp. 105, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-11-105
    Journal articles | 2009
    Lee AS; Kahatapitiya P; Kramer B; Joya JE; Hook J; Liu R; Schevzov G; Alexander IE; McCowage G; Montarras D; Gunning PW; Hardeman EC, 2009, 'Methylguanine DNA methyltransferase-mediated drug resistance-based selective enrichment and engraftment of transplanted stem cells in skeletal muscle', Stem Cells, vol. 27, pp. 1098 - 1108, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/stem.28
    Journal articles | 2009
    Liu R; Ginn SL; Lek M; North KN; Alexander IE; Little DG; Schindeler A, 2009, 'Myoblast sensitivity and fibroblast insensitivity to osteogenic conversion by BMP-2 correlates with the expression of Bmpr-1a', BMC Musculoskelet Disord, vol. 10, pp. 51, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-10-51
    Journal articles | 2009
    Schindeler A; Liu R; Little DG, 2009, 'The contribution of different cell lineages to bone repair: exploring a role for muscle stem cells', Differentiation, vol. 77, pp. 12 - 18, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.diff.2008.09.007