May 10, 2011
Jian Liu, PhD, a faculty member at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy known for his pursuit of a synthetic version of the anticoagulant heparin, was promoted to the rank of professor in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products on May 1.
“Dr. Liu has established a highly impressive and internationally recognized research program in the field of glycobiology during his tenure at UNC and has emerged as a leader in elucidating the mechanisms of heparan sulfate biosynthesis and function,” says Robert Blouin, PharmD, dean of the School and the Vaughn and Nancy Bryson Distinguished Professor. “The critical objectives of his research include developing an effective means of producing biosynthetic heparan sulfate to replace the animal product that has been the subject of so many health and safety concerns.”
Liu’s expertise is in the structural characterization of heparin and heparan sulfate, the biosynthetic mechanism of heparin, and the enzymatic synthesis of heparin. He has invented an enzyme-based method to prepare heparin and heparan sulfate from bacteria polysaccharides.
Liu has been working with heparin for more than twenty years and is developing a synthetic version, Recomparin, that could one day replace naturally derived heparin by improving upon its safety and efficacy. Currently, synthetic forms of heparin are difficult to produce in large quantities because of the drug’s complexity, resulting in expensive medicines that are not widely used. The simpler structure of Recomparin is likely to be easier to produce than other forms of synthetic heparin, according to Liu. He also expects Recomparin to reduce the dangerous side effects of natural heparin, such as uncontrolled bleeding and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (too few platelets in the blood), while providing the same benefits as naturally derived heparin.
After spending most of the 1990s as a postdoc and research scientist in the department of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Liu joined the School in 2000. He has also been a visiting associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute since 2009. Liu received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Nankai University in China and his PhD in medicinal chemistry and natural products from the University of Iowa.
Liu’s research group is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health including support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. In addition, he has made significant teaching contributions to the School, including developing and coordinating a course on the medicinal chemistry of infectious diseases and cancers (PHCY 421).
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