Jinghui Liu, PhD
Connect
859-562-0299Jinghui.Liu@uky.edu
Positions
- Assistant Professor
College Unit(s)
Research
Our research program focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that drive prostate cancer progression, therapeutic resistance, and the emergence of treatment-refractory disease. Our long-term goal is to identify novel therapeutic vulnerabilities and develop more effective strategies for patients with advanced prostate cancer.
We use unbiased discovery platforms, including CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screening, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and compound screening, to identify new therapeutic targets and resistance mechanisms. These approaches allow us to investigate how prostate cancer cells evade current treatments, including androgen receptor signaling inhibitors (ARSIs), immune checkpoint blockade, and other therapeutic strategies.
A central area of our research is ARSI-induced lineage plasticity and neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) progression. We have established and applied prostate regeneration models that enable precise in vivo investigation of NEPC initiation, lineage plasticity, and therapeutic response. By integrating functional genomics, our work aims to uncover key drivers of advanced prostate cancer progression and translate these discoveries into new therapeutic strategies for lethal and treatment-refractory prostate cancer.
Selected Publications
1. Wu M, He D, Seilani F, Nouri M, Wang R, Li Z, Allison DB, Zhao F, Chen L, Wang X, Peng J, Maasoumy H, Rao X, Zhang M, Wang J, Xia Z, Wang C, Liu J#, Liu X#. Androgen deprivation drives stepwise neuroendocrine lineage reprogramming mediated by BCL11A in prostate cancer. PNAS, under revision. #Corresponding author.
2. Liu J#, Wang X, He D, Maasoumyhaghighi H, Nouri M, Wu M, Peng J, Rao X, Wang R, Wu S, Wang J, Brooks N, Pegg N, Frese K, Li Z, Liu X. Therapeutic targeting of the p300/CBP bromodomain enhances the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Oncogene. 2025 Jul;44(28):2386-2395. #Corresponding author.
3. Liu J, Zhao Y, He D, Jones KM, Tang S, Allison DB, Zhang Y, Chen J, Zhang Q, Wang X, Li C, Wang C, Li L, Liu X. A kinome-wide CRISPR screen identifies CK1α as a target to overcome enzalutamide resistance of prostate cancer. Cell Rep Med. 2023 Apr 18;4(4):101015.
4. Liu J, He D, Cheng L, Huang C, Zhang Y, Rao X, Kong Y, Li C, Zhang Z, Liu J, Jones K, Napier D, Lee EY, Wang C, Liu X. p300/CBP inhibition enhances the efficacy of programmed death-ligand 1 blockade treatment in prostate cancer. Oncogene. 2020 May;39(19):3939-3951.
5. Zhang Q, Peng J, Zhang Y, Liu J, He D, Zhao Y, Wang X, Li C, Kong Y, Wang R, Mao F, Wang C, Wang Q, Zhang M, Wang J, Yang HS, Liu X. The kinase PLK1 promotes Hedgehog signaling-dependent resistance to the antiandrogen enzalutamide in metastatic prostate cancer. Sci Signal. 2025 Mar 18;18(878):eadi5174.
6. Peng J, Zhang Q, Rao X, Allison DB, Kong Y, Wang R, Liu J, Zhang Y, Katz W, Li Z, Liu X. PLK1-mediated PDHA1 phosphorylation drives metabolic reprogramming in lung cancer. Oncogene. 2025;44(43):4190-204.
7. Zhang Y, Fong KW, Mao F, Wang R, Allison DB, Napier D, He D, Liu J, Zhang Y, Chen J, Kong Y, Li C, Li G, Liu J, Li Z, Zhu H, Wang C, Liu X. Elevating PLK1 overcomes BETi resistance in prostate cancer via triggering BRD4 phosphorylationdependent degradation in mitosis. Cell Rep. 2024 Jul 23;43(7):114431.
8. Li C, Liu J, He D, Mao F, Rao X, Zhao Y, Lanman NA, Kazemian M, Farah E, Liu J, Ngule CM, Zhang Z, Zhang Y, Kong Y, Li L, Wang C, Liu X. GSTM2 is a key molecular determinant of resistance to SG-ARIs. Oncogene. 2022;41(40):4498-511.
9. Zhang Z, Cheng L, Zhang Q, Kong Y, He D, Li K, Rea M, Wang J, Wang R, Liu J, Li Z, Yuan C, Liu E, Fondufe-Mittendorf YN, Li L, Han T, Wang C, Liu X. Co-Targeting Plk1 and DNMT3a in Advanced Prostate Cancer. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2021 Jul;8(13):e2101458.
10. Chen X*, Liu J*, Cheng L, Li C, Zhang Z, Bai Y, Wang R, Han T, Huang C, Kong Y, Feng F, Liu X. Inhibition of noncanonical Wnt pathway overcomes enzalutamide resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer. Prostate. 2020 Feb;80(3):256-266. * co-first author