Dr Pentao Liu

Pentao's laboratory studies cancer and mouse development. He uses a range of genetic, genomic and biochemical approaches in the lab and develops novel technologies to facilitate the lab's studies.

Pentao graduated from Henan Normal University and earned his Master of Science degree from Chinese Academy of Sciences/University of Science and Technology of China.

At Baylor College of Medicine, he studied molecular mechanisms of Charcoal-Marie-Tooth disease in Dr James Lupski's laboratory. Pentao received his PhD from Baylor College of Medicine under the guidance of Professor Allan Bradley, and completed his postdoctoral training at National Cancer Institute (USA) in the laboratories of Dr Neal Copeland and Dr Nancy Jenkins.

Pentao joined the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in September 2003. He initiated the high-throughput recombineering for the large-scale mouse mutagenesis programme at the Sanger Institute. Pentao's laboratory is interested in transcriptional regulation in development and has been characterizing two transcription factors, Bcl11a and Bcl11b, in haematopoiesis and in the mammary gland development. Recently, his group has identified the critical roles of transcription factors in lineage specification of lymphocytes and the mammary epithelium.

Pentao has a particular interest in using genetic, genomic and biochemical approaches to study lineage commitment in development and also lineage maintenance once the firm commitment is achieved. Knowledge from these studies will provide a scientific basis for controllable differentiation from manipulated stem cells or progenitors to functional cells, for genetic reprogramming of differentiated cells, and eventually for a better understanding of cancer initiation and progression.

Pentao's lab has recently characterized the piggyBac transposition in mammalian cells, which facilitates applying this very efficient DNA transposon system to identifying genes in various biological processes. Based on the Sleeping Beauty DNA transposon system, they have developed a platform in the mouse to validate cancer associated genetic changes identified in large-scale cancer genome sequencing.

Selected Publications

• Reprogramming to Pluripotency Using Designer TALE Transcription Factors Targeting Enhancers.

  Gao X, Yang J, Tsang JC, Ooi J, Wu D and Liu P

  Stem cell reports 2013;1;2;183-97

  PUBMED: 24052952; PMC: 3757749; DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2013.06.002

• Bcl11a is essential for lymphoid development and negatively regulates p53.

  Yu Y, Wang J, Khaled W, Burke S, Li P, Chen X, Yang W, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Zhang S and Liu P

  The Journal of experimental medicine 2012;209;13;2467-83

  PUBMED: 23230003; PMC: 3526365; DOI: 10.1084/jem.20121846

• Rapid and efficient reprogramming of somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells by retinoic acid receptor gamma and liver receptor homolog 1.

  Wang W, Yang J, Liu H, Lu D, Chen X, Zenonos Z, Campos LS, Rad R, Guo G, Zhang S, Bradley A and Liu P

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2011;108;45;18283-8

  PUBMED: 21990348; PMC: 3215025; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1100893108

• PiggyBac transposon mutagenesis: a tool for cancer gene discovery in mice.

  Rad R, Rad L, Wang W, Cadinanos J, Vassiliou G, Rice S, Campos LS, Yusa K, Banerjee R, Li MA, de la Rosa J, Strong A, Lu D, Ellis P, Conte N, Yang FT, Liu P and Bradley A

  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2010;330;6007;1104-7

  PUBMED: 20947725; PMC: 3719098; DOI: 10.1126/science.1193004

• Reprogramming of T cells to natural killer-like cells upon Bcl11b deletion.

  Li P, Burke S, Wang J, Chen X, Ortiz M, Lee SC, Lu D, Campos L, Goulding D, Ng BL, Dougan G, Huntly B, Gottgens B, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Colucci F and Liu P

  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2010;329;5987;85-9

  PUBMED: 20538915; PMC: 3628452; DOI: 10.1126/science.1188063

• piggyBac transposition reprograms fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells.

  Woltjen K, Michael IP, Mohseni P, Desai R, Mileikovsky M, Hämäläinen R, Cowling R, Wang W, Liu P, Gertsenstein M, Kaji K, Sung HK and Nagy A

  Nature 2009;458;7239;766-70

  PUBMED: 19252478; PMC: 3758996; DOI: 10.1038/nature07863

• A DNA transposon-based approach to validate oncogenic mutations in the mouse.

  Su Q, Prosser HM, Campos LS, Ortiz M, Nakamura T, Warren M, Dupuy AJ, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Bradley A and Liu P

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2008;105;50;19904-9

  PUBMED: 19064922; PMC: 2597691; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0807785105

• Mouse embryonic stem cell-based functional assay to evaluate mutations in BRCA2.

  Kuznetsov SG, Liu P and Sharan SK

  Nature medicine 2008;14;8;875-81

  PUBMED: 18607349; PMC: 2640324; DOI: 10.1038/nm.1719

• Chromosomal transposition of PiggyBac in mouse embryonic stem cells.

  Wang W, Lin C, Lu D, Ning Z, Cox T, Melvin D, Wang X, Bradley A and Liu P

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2008;105;27;9290-5

  PUBMED: 18579772; PMC: 2440425; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0801017105

• BCL11B is required for positive selection and survival of double-positive thymocytes.

  Albu DI, Feng D, Bhattacharya D, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Liu P and Avram D

  The Journal of experimental medicine 2007;204;12;3003-15

  PUBMED: 17998389; PMC: 2118514; DOI: 10.1084/jem.20070863

• A recombineering based approach for high-throughput conditional knockout targeting vector construction.

  Chan W, Costantino N, Li R, Lee SC, Su Q, Melvin D, Court DL and Liu P

  Nucleic acids research 2007;35;8;e64

  PUBMED: 17426124; PMC: 1885671; DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkm163

• Bcl11a is essential for normal lymphoid development.

  Liu P, Keller JR, Ortiz M, Tessarollo L, Rachel RA, Nakamura T, Jenkins NA and Copeland NG

  Nature immunology 2003;4;6;525-32

  PUBMED: 12717432; DOI: 10.1038/ni925

• A highly efficient recombineering-based method for generating conditional knockout mutations.

  Liu P, Jenkins NA and Copeland NG

  Genome research 2003;13;3;476-84

  PUBMED: 12618378; PMC: 430283; DOI: 10.1101/gr.749203

• Efficient Cre-loxP-induced mitotic recombination in mouse embryonic stem cells.

  Liu P, Jenkins NA and Copeland NG

  Nature genetics 2002;30;1;66-72

  PUBMED: 11740496; DOI: 10.1038/ng788

• Requirement for Wnt3 in vertebrate axis formation.

  Liu P, Wakamiya M, Shea MJ, Albrecht U, Behringer RR and Bradley A

  Nature genetics 1999;22;4;361-5

  PUBMED: 10431240; DOI: 10.1038/11932