Qili Liu, PhD
Assistant Professor
Anatomy
School of Medicine

Animals can exhibit hunger for not only calories but also specific nutrients, which energize behaviors to search for and ingest particular types of food in response to internal nutritional deficiency. My lab aims to understand the neurobiological basis of nutrient-specific appetite, and investigate how hunger for distinct nutrients are systematically coordinated to ensure that a balanced diet is consumed.

Show full bio (80 words) Hide full bio

To this end, we will harness the power of the Drosophila model system and employ a multidisciplinary approach, including large-scale genetic and behavioral analyses, immunohistochemistry, functional imaging, and patch-clamp electrophysiology. These studies will shed light on the fundamental principles for the organization and modulation of motivated behaviors. Given the global obesity epidemic, illuminating the regulation of food choice guided by nutrient specific appetite may facilitate the development of novel treatments for obesity.

Awards

Show all (7) Hide

• Pew Biomedical Scholar Award, 2021
• Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in Neuroscience, 2020
• NIGMS MIRA Award, 2020
• Mallinckrodt Young Investigator Award, 2019
• UCSF NORC Pilot and Feasibility Award, 2019
• UCSF PBBR New Frontiers Research Award, 2019
• UCSF Weill Pilot Award for Junior Investigators, 2019

Websites

Show all (1) Hide

• Liu Lab (qililiulab.science)

Grants and Projects

Show all (2) Hide

• Mechanism and Modulation of the homeostatic setpoint for protein feeding, NIH, 2021-2026
• Genetic dissection of motivational drive to eat, NIH, 2020-2025

Publications (12)

Top publication keywords:
DrosophilaSignal TransductionWakefulnessReceptors, G-Protein-CoupledMeristemProteostasisDrosophila melanogasterDietary ProteinsSleepNeuronal PlasticityDrosophila ProteinsRNA, PlantArgonaute ProteinsDopaminergic NeuronsHunger

• Opposing GPCR signaling programs protein intake setpoint in Drosophila.
  Cell 2024 Wu G, Ma T, Hancock CE, Gonzalez S, Aryal B, Vaz S, Chan G, Palarca-Wong M, Allen N, Chung CI, Shu X, Liu Q
• A brain-derived insulin signal encodes protein satiety for nutrient-specific feeding inhibition.
  Cell reports 2024 Li X, Yang Y, Bai X, Wang X, Tan H, Chen Y, Zhu Y, Liu Q, Wu MN, Li Y
• A clock-dependent brake for rhythmic arousal in the dorsomedial hypothalamus.
  Nature communications 2023 Liu Q, Bell BJ, Kim DW, Lee SS, Keles MF, Liu Q, Blum ID, Wang AA, Blank EJ, Xiong J, Bedont JL, Chang AJ, Issa H, Cohen JY, Blackshaw S, Wu MN
• Clock-Generated Temporal Codes Determine Synaptic Plasticity to Control Sleep.
  Cell 2018 Tabuchi M, Monaco JD, Duan G, Bell B, Liu S, Liu Q, Zhang K, Wu MN
• A Genetic Toolkit for Dissecting Dopamine Circuit Function in Drosophila.
  Cell reports 2018 Xie T, Ho MCW, Liu Q, Horiuchi W, Lin CC, Task D, Luan H, White BH, Potter CJ, Wu MN

Show all (7 more) Hide

• Branch-specific plasticity of a bifunctional dopamine circuit encodes protein hunger.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2017 Liu Q, Tabuchi M, Liu S, Kodama L, Horiuchi W, Daniels J, Chiu L, Baldoni D, Wu MN
• Sleep Drive Is Encoded by Neural Plastic Changes in a Dedicated Circuit.
  Cell 2016 Liu S, Liu Q, Tabuchi M, Wu MN
• Sleep interacts with aβ to modulate intrinsic neuronal excitability.
  Current biology : CB 2015 Tabuchi M, Lone SR, Liu S, Liu Q, Zhang J, Spira AP, Wu MN
• WIDE AWAKE mediates the circadian timing of sleep onset.
  Neuron 2014 Liu S, Lamaze A, Liu Q, Tabuchi M, Yang Y, Fowler M, Bharadwaj R, Zhang J, Bedont J, Blackshaw S, Lloyd TE, Montell C, Sehgal A, Koh K, Wu MN
• Two dopaminergic neurons signal to the dorsal fan-shaped body to promote wakefulness in Drosophila.
  Current biology : CB 2012 Liu Q, Liu S, Kodama L, Driscoll MR, Wu MN
• The ARGONAUTE10 gene modulates shoot apical meristem maintenance and establishment of leaf polarity by repressing miR165/166 in Arabidopsis.
  The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology 2008 Liu Q, Yao X, Pi L, Wang H, Cui X, Huang H
• Genetic interaction between the AS1-AS2 and RDR6-SGS3-AGO7 pathways for leaf morphogenesis.
  Plant & cell physiology 2006 Xu L, Yang L, Pi L, Liu Q, Ling Q, Wang H, Poethig RS, Huang H