Fen Liu

Fen Liu received her Master’s degree in 2000 from Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and her undergraduate degree from the department of Biomedical Engineering at Zhejiang University, China in 1997. 

Fen is currently a fifth-year graduate student in the department of biochemistry, molecular biology and biophysics with advisor, Dr. Kylie Walters. Her thesis research includes two related projects: 1) to identify the structural alterations caused by the R64 to W mutation in a polymorphism of human N-acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1*17) that differentiate the variant protein to be ubiquitinated and degraded rapidly in cells; 2) to identify the molecular and cellular components to dispose misfolded cytosolic proteins in mammalian cells by using two naturally existing protein polymorphisms, human NAT1 R64W variant and parkin R42P variant, as the model substrates.

Awards and Honors:

• Schmit-Steer Award, Minnesota Medical Foundation, 2009
• Charles W. Carr and William J. Peterson Award, BMBB, University of Minnesota, 2008
• Carol H. and Wayne A. Pletcher Fellowship, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, 2007
• University of Minnesota Graduate School Fellowship, 2004

Thesis Publications:

Liu F, Sanders MA, Medicherla, B, Ethen CM, Kang Y, Ferrington, DA, Koepp DM, Walters KJ, Aberrant cytosolic proteins are trafficked through the endoplasmic reticulum for degradation. Nature, under review.

Zhang N, Liu L, Liu F, Wagner CR, Hanna PE, Walters KJ, NMR-based model reveals the structural determinants of mammalian arylamine N-acetyltransferase substrate specificity. J Mol Biol. 2006 Oct 13;363(1):188-200.