Jin Rui (Amos) Liang will open an independent research laboratory within the MRC PPU during the summer of 2022

Amos undertook his undergraduate training at the University of Hull (2007-2010), followed by a PhD in the laboratories of Sylvie Urbe & Michael Clague at the University of Liverpool (2011-2015). During his PhD Amos discovered that the mitochondrial USP30 deubiquitylase targets Parkin during mitophagy and showed that knock-out of USP30 sensitises cells to BH3-mimetic-induced apoptosis. Amos then went on to undertake postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Jacob Corn initially at the University of California, Berkeley (2015-2018) and then in ETH Zurich (2018-present). Here Amos identified and characterised novel regulators of endoplasmic reticulum-specific autophagy, or ERphagy, using an elegant CRISPR genome-wide screening approach. He discovered that UFMylation of ER-resident proteins is a major regulator for ERphagy and identified RPN1 and RPL26 as novel UFMylation substrates.

In his laboratory at the MRC PPU, Amos intends to identify and characterise other novel factors that regulate ERphagy. He will also explore the physiological roles of ERphagy and investigate how ERphagy may be disrupted in diseases such as cancer. His laboratory will exploit state-of-the-art CRISPR-based gene editing and genome-wide screening technology, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), mass spectrometry, fluorescence microscopy, and biochemical studies to interrogate ERphagy in different cell types.

For further information on Amos’s research see here.

Amos stated "I am delighted to be a part of the MRC PPU. I believe that my research interests in understanding the roles of post-translational modification on ERphagy and their clinical relevance align with the core interest of the MRC PPU. I look forward to collaborating with the excellent group of scientists at the Unit to make a positive difference in people’s lives."

Dario Alessi, Director of the MRC PPU stated “I am extremely pleased that Amos will soon be opening his laboratory within the MRC PPU. Amos has undertaken fantastic PhD and postdoctoral research and developed a niche of expertise in the emerging field of ERphagy. Studying how ERphagy is controlled by UFMylation and exploring the pathophysiological roles of ERphagy is hugely exciting and synergises well with much other on-going research. The expertise that Amos possesses in genome-wide CRISPR editing screens is also a major asset.”