Photo of Professor Luning Liu

Professor Luning Liu Ph.D., FRSB, FRMS

Professor, Chair of Microbial Bioenergetics and Bioengineering, Fellow of Royal Society of Biology, Fellow of Royal Microscopical Society Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology

Research

Research Overview

The research in the Liu lab focuses on the molecular basis of the self-assembly, organisation, biogenesis and dynamics of biological membranes and protein supramolecular assemblies.

Compartmentalisation and self-assembly of bacterial microcompartments

Cover art of our review on bacterial microcompartments in Trends in Microbiology
Cover art of our review on bacterial microcompartments in Trends in Microbiology

Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are proteinaceous organelles widespread among bacterial phyla. They compartmentalize enzymes within a selectively permeable shell and play important roles in carbon fixation, pathogenesis, and microbial ecology. Their physiological significance, self-assembly and modularity features have attracted increasing interest in synthetic engineering to build new nanoreactors and scaffolding systems for metabolic enhancement. We aim to decipher the molecular principles underlying the self-assembly, encapsulation and functional regulation of BMCs and harness the advanced knowledge in bioengineering and reprogramming synthetic metabolic organelles in other organisms, such as E. coli and plants.

Supramolecular structure, assembly and biosynthesis of photosynthetic membranes

Cover art of our review on photosynthetic apparatus in Trends in Microbiology
Cover art of our review on photosynthetic apparatus in Trends in Microbiology

Using interdisciplinary cutting-edge biological and biophysical approaches, we investigate the molecular basis of protein structure, distribution and assembly, and the biogenesis and physiological regulation of bioenergetic membranes.

Microscopic imaging

Cover art for high-resolution atomic force microscopy imaging of protein assembly
Cover art for high-resolution atomic force microscopy imaging of protein assembly

Exploitation and development of microscopic imaging, including fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy, (cryo-)electron microscopy, to characterize cell and protein dynamics, protein structure and self-assembly, and nanomechanics.

Research Grants

An Aberration Corrected STEM with Integrated Science Driven AI to Quantify Dynamic Functionality in Advanced Energy Technologies and Biomaterials

ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL

October 2021 - September 2023

Ultra-sensitive Proteomics Platform

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL

August 2020 - August 2021

Unlocking the molecular stoichiometry of functional CO2-fixing organelles for synthetic engineering

ROYAL SOCIETY

October 2018 - March 2022

Biosynthesis, Regulation and Engineering of Bacterial Carbon Fixation Machinery

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL

October 2015 - January 2019

Physical mechanics of bacterial carbon fixation machinery

ROYAL SOCIETY (CHARITABLE)

March 2014 - February 2018

Isolation and characterisation of functional bioenergetic domains

BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETY (UK)

September 2013 - February 2015

A multimodal imaging platform with real-time super-resolution for research across the life sciences

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL

May 2018 - April 2019

A new generation of Crystallographic detector for Multi-user Barkla X-ray laboratory

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL

July 2017 - July 2018

Liverpool BioAFM: an integrated optical and atomic force microscope for research across the life sciences

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL

January 2015 - January 2016

Liverpool GeneMill

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL

September 2014 - September 2015

Surface modification to immobilise functional biological membranes and proteins

HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION (PAKISTAN)

May 2014 - October 2014

Deciphering the physical basis underlying the self-assembly of bacterial organelles

ROYAL SOCIETY

December 2017 - October 2022

Organisation, dynamics and biogenesis of photosynthetic membrane

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL

February 2018 - January 2022

Enhancing crop productivity by engineering CO2-fixing organelles

ROYAL SOCIETY

December 2016 - December 2017