Research team of Professor Zuguo Liu
Team members:
Professor: Zuguo Liu
Assistant Professor: Jiaoyue Hu
Research assistant: Caihong Huang, Ke Cheng, Ruochen Wang, Yimin Huang
Postgraduate students: Weijie Ouyang, Houjian Zhang, Xiaorui Bao, Qingjian Li, Yi Han, Shujia Guo, Shaopan Wang, Yuqian Wang, Wenying Guan, Danyi Qin, Ke Feng, Fangzi Zhulin, Yuwen Liu, Mingyan Wei, Yunuo Zhang, Changsheng Xu, Jiani Li, Yuting Zhang, Quanting Li, Lin Chen
Tel:0592-2183761
E-mail:zuguoliu@xmu.edu.cn
Research Focus:
Tear film and dry eye
Tears, secreted from lacrimal gland, meibomian gland and other orbital subsidiary glands, form the tear film on the ocular surface to provide nutrition, lubrication and protection of corneal and conjunctival epithelium cells. The damage of tear film can result in ocular surface inflammation, apoptosis of epithelial cells, squamous metaplasia, goblet cell loss, and other pathologic changes of the ocular surface, which causes various symptoms in patients. In the severe cases, abnormality of tear film can cause corneal ulcer, neovascularization, as well as permanent visual impairment.
The prevalence of dry eye is very high in the nation and the world. About 20-30% of Chinese population is affected by dry eye. Prof Liu’s group has been committed to the research of dry eye epidemiology, pathogenesis, animal models, drug screening, and treatments with research funding from national and local governments. Meanwhile, the clinical center of the eye institute, Xiamen Eye Center, participated and played key roles in many multi-center clinical researches. They are the first in the world to establish a tissue culture model to mimic the pathological changes of dry eye, they also established the stable mice dry eye model by BAC induction. They have published a series of high-rank papers on international and national ophthalmologic journals, and filed several Chinese patents in the field of dry eye research.
Corneal tissue engineering
According to the statistics, more than 4 million people in China are blinded because of severe corneal diseases. However, only about 3,000 cases of corneal transplantation were performed each year in China due to the extreme shortage of cornea donor tissue. Therefore, the development and application of corneal tissue substitutes, so-called tissue engineered cornea, is worth of persistent and industrious investigation.
Prof Liu’s research team is committed to corneal tissue engineering study, including the tissue engineered corneal epithelium, xenogenic tissue engineered corneal stroma, and tissue engineered corneal endothelial. The research projects are supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program) and the Natural Science Foundation of China. In the past three years, they have made major progress in the optimization of tissue engineered corneal epithelium, cell extraction and effectiveness evaluations of xenogenic engineered corneal stroma. In Science supplement issue in April 2012, they reported that lamellar corneal tissue from porcine was successfully transplanted to human, which is the first report of xenogenic corneal lamellar keratoplasty in human.
Artificial intelligence and ocular surface disease recognition
With the wide application of deep learning and machine learning in medicine, artificial intelligence can realize many functions, such as intelligent diagnosis of diseases, hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, and course management.
Ocular surface diseases have a high incidence and easily cause blindness, which seriously affects the quality of life of Chinese people. Under the background of intelligent medicine, Eye Institute of Xiamen University has innovatively and jointly carried out ophthalmic artificial intelligence research focusing on critical clinical problems. Based on basic research, relevant data were collected to build an extensive ophthalmology database and fully use leading AI technologies such as big data processing, cloud computing, image recognition, and deep learning to provide intelligent diagnosis and treatment algorithms for common ocular surface diseases. In solving ocular surface diseases, the realization of basic research and intelligent medicine 1+ 1>2 will be an important theoretical component to guide the development of the field of ophthalmic AI. After years of research, we have published high-level articles in international journals and applied for several national invention patents, software Copyrights, etc.
Recent Publications:
1.Weijie Ouyang#, Shoubi Wang#, Jiaoyue Hu*, Zuguo Liu*. Can the cGAS-STING Pathway Play a Role in the Dry Eye? Front Immunol. 2022 Jun 24;13:929230. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.929230. eCollection 2022.
2.Sanming Li#, Liying Tang#, Jing Zhou, Sonia Anchouche, Dian Li, Yiran Yang, Zhaolin Liu, Jieli Wu, Jiaoyue Hu, Yueping Zhou, Jia Yin, Zuguo Liu*, Wei Li*. Sleep deprivation induces corneal epithelial progenitor cell over-expansion through disruption of redox homeostasis in the tear film. Stem Cell Reports. 2022 May 10;17(5):1105-1119. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.03.017. Epub 2022 Apr 28.
3.Shaopan Wang, Xin He, Qingmin Li, Yuhan Zhang , Jiaoyue Hu, Rongrong Zong, Jingyi Zhuang, Andrew J Quantock, Yingying Gao*, Wei Li*, Zuguo Liu*. Obstructive Sleep Apnea Affects Lacrimal Gland Function. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2022 Mar 2;63(3):3. doi: 10.1167/iovs.63.3.3
4.Zhen Liu#, Yanghui Xiu#, Fangfang Qiu, Zhenzhen Zhu, Rongrong Zong, Xiangtian Zhou, Jianhong An, Qiongsi Wang, Peter S Reinach, Wei Li, Wensheng Chen, Zuguo Liu*. Canonical Wnt Signaling Drives Myopia Development and Can Be Pharmacologically Modulated. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2021 Jul 1;62(9):21. doi: 10.1167/iovs.62.9.21.
5.Weijie Ouyang#, Yang Wu, Xiang Lin, Shoubi Wang, Yiran Yang, Liying Tang, Zhaolin Liu, Jieli Wu, Caihong Huang, Yueping Zhou, Xiaobo Zhang, Jiaoyue Hu*, Zuguo Liu*. Role of CD4+ T Helper Cells in the Development of BAC-Induced Dry Eye Syndrome in Mice. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2021 Jan 4;62(1):25. doi: 10.1167/iovs.62.1.25.
6.Zhaolin Liu, Ming Jin, Ying Li, Jun Liu, Xianghua Xiao, Hongsheng Bi, Zhiqiang Pan, Huijun Shi, Xiaofeng Xie, Minglian Zhang, Xuemin Gao, Lei Li, Weijie Ouyang, Liying Tang, Jieli Wu, Yiran Yang, Jiaoyue Hu, Zuguo Liu*. Efficacy and Safety of Houttuynia Eye Drops Atomization Treatment for Meibomian Gland Dysfunction-Related Dry Eye Disease: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. J Clin Med. 2020 Dec 12;9(12):4022. doi: 10.3390/jcm9124022.
7.Wu Y#, Wu J#, Bu J#, Tang L, Yang Y, Ouyang W, Lin X, Liu Z, Huang C, Quantock AJ, Ma X, Li W, Zhou Y, Liu Z*. High-fat diet induces dry eye-like ocular surface damages in murine. Ocul Surf. 2020 Feb 28. pii: S1542-0124(20)30028-8.
8.Han Y#, Li C#*, Cai Q, Bao X, Tang L, Ao H, Liu J, Jin M, Zhou Y, Wan Y*, Liu Z*. Studies on bacterial cellulose/poly vinyl alcohol (BC/PVA) hydrogel composites as tissue-engineered corneal stroma. Biomed Mater. 2020 Apr 30;15(3):035022. doi: 10.1088/1748-605X/ab56ca.
9.Liu J, Li Z, Li J, Liu Z*. Application of benzonase in preparation of decellularized lamellar porcine corneal stroma for lamellar keratoplasty. J Biomed Mater Res A. 2019 Nov;107(11):2547-2555.
10.Tang L, Wang X, Wu J, Li SM, Zhang Z, Wu S, Su T, Lin Z, Chen X, Liao X, Bai T, Qiu Y, Reinach PS, Li W, Chen Y*, Liu Z*. Sleep Deprivation Induces Dry Eye Through Inhibition of PPARα Expression in Corneal Epithelium. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018 Nov 1;59(13):5494-5508
11.Yiran Yang#, Caihong Huang#, Xiang Lin, Yang Wu, Weijie Ouyang, Liying Tang, Sihao Ye,Yuhong Wang, Wei Li, Xiaobo Zhang*,and Zuguo Liu*.0.005% Preservative-Free Latanoprost Induces Dry EyeLike Ocular Surface Damage via Promotion of Inflammation in Mice. IOVS, 2018 Jul 2;59:3375–3384
12.Yuanyuan Yin#, RongrongZong#, XiaoruiBao, Xiling Zheng, Huixia Cui, Zuguo Liu,andYuepingZhou*.Oxidative Stress Suppresses Cellular Autophagy in CornealEpithelium. IOVS, 2018 Jul 2;59:3286–3293.
13.Yang Wu#, Jinghua Bu#, Yiran Yang, Xiang Lin, Xiaoxin Cai, Caihong Huang, Xiaoxiang Zheng, Weijie Ouyang, Wei Li, Xiaobo Zhang, and Zuguo Liu*. Therapeutic Effect of MK2 Inhibitor on Experimental Murine Dry Eye. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017 Sep 1;58(11):4898-4907.
14.Xiaobo Zhang#, Xiang Lin#, Zhaolin Liu, Yang Wu, Yiran Yang, Weijie Ouyang, Wei Li, and Zuguo Liu*. Topical Application of Mizoribine Suppresses CD4+ T-cell-Mediated Pathogenesis in Murine Dry Eye. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 2017 Dec 1, 58(14):6056-6064.
15.Wang YC, Li S, Chen X, Ma B, He H, Liu T, Yu J, Zhang L, Chen Y, Liu Z*, Li W*. Meibomian Gland Absence Related Dry Eye in Ectodysplasin A Mutant Mice. Am J Pathol. 2016 Jan;186(1):32-42.
16.Li J#, Li C#, Wang G, Liu Z, Chen P, Yang Q, Dong N, Wu H, Liu Z*, Li W*.APR-246/PRIMA-1Met Inhibits and Reverses Squamous Metaplasia in Human Conjunctival Epithelium. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2016 Feb 1;57(2):444-52.
17.Chen Y, Deng F, Zheng J, YinJ, Huang R, Liu W, Lin Q, Gao Y, Gao X, Yu X, Liu Z*, Chen J*.High circulating level of interleukin-18 in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome is associated with disease activity.Mod Rheumatol. 2015 Mar 24:1-3.
18.Jiemin Zhu,He Hong-Gu,Xiuzhu Zhou,Haixia Wei, Yaru Gao,Benlan Ye, Zuguo Liu*,Sally Wai-Chi Chan*. Pain relief effect of breast feeding and music therapy during heel lance for healthy-term neonates in China: A randomized controlled trial.Midwifery.2015 Mar;31(3):365-72.
19.Yun Han#, Yi Shao#, TingTing Liu, SangMing Li, Wei Li, ZuGuo Liu*. Therapeutic effects of topical Netrin4 in a corneal acute inflammatory model.Int J Ophthalmol. 2015 Apr 18;8(2):228-33.
20.Hong J, Yu Z, Jiang C, Zhou X, Liu Z*, Sun X, Xu J*. Corvis ST Tonometer for Measuring Postoperative IOP in LASIK Patients. Optom Vis Sci. 2015 May;92(5):589-95.
