Wen-Chun (Claire) Liu, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
wen-chun.liu@mssm.edu

 

 

 

Flow cytometric analysis of T cell subset and IFN- secreting T cells analysis by ELISpot assay in the ferret bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid after vaccination with innovative influenza vaccines.

 

 

Research Interests
My research interests focus on development of vaccines, and studies on the immunology of ferrets and host-pathogen interactions in response to respiratory viral infection, especially with influenza virus. Due to their emulation of clinical features associated with human disease and similar physiological/anatomical features, we utilize ferrets as our pre-clinical experimental animal model to evaluate vaccine efficacy. The serological protection, virus replication in the upper and lower respiratory tracts, as well as innate and adaptive immunity in different tissues are measured following immunization or virus infection. Meanwhile, we are developing immunological reagents and in vitro assays for in-depth dissection of humoral and cellular immune responses. We aim at identifying immune correlates of broader protective immunity induced by innovative universal influenza virus vaccines or virus infection in the ferret model.

Notable Publications
Liu WC, Nachbagauer R, Krammer F., Albrecht RA. 2017. Assessment of influenza virus hemagglutinin stalk-specific antibody responses. Methods In Mol. Biol. Influenza Virus: Methods & Protocols(Springer).

Nachbagauer R., Liu WC, Choi A., Wohlbold TJ, Atlas T, Rajendran M, Solórzano A, Berlanda-Scorza F, García-Sastre A, Palese P, Albrecht RA, Krammer F. 2017. A universal influenza virus vaccine candidate confers protection against pandemic H1N1 infection in preclinical ferret studies. npj vaccines. 2:26 doi:10.1038/s41541-017-0026-4.

Liu WC, Lin YL, Spearman M, Cheng PY, Butler M, Wu SC. 2016. Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins with Different N-Glycan Patterns Activate Dendritic Cells In Vitro.Journal of Virology. 90, 6085-96. PMC4907228.

Liu WC, Jan JT, Huang YJ, Chen TH, Wu SC. 2016. Unmasking stem-specific neutralizing epitopes by abolishing N-linked glycosylation sites of influenza hemagglutinin proteins for vaccine design. Journal of Virology. 90, 8496-508. PMC5021406.

Liu WC, Lin CY, Tsou YT, Jan JT, and Wu SC. (2015). Cross-reactive Neuraminidase-inhibiting Antibodies Elicited by Immunization with Recombinant Neuraminidase Proteins of H5N1 and pH1N1 Influenza A Viruses. Journal of Virology. 89, 7224-34.