Dr. Kaizheng Liu is an associate professor at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He obtained his Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees from Nankai University (CN), University College London (UK), and Radboud University (NL), respectively. Collaborating with European research institutions, he is committed to the study of cell mechanobiology in 3D microenvironments and the development, production, and biomedical applications of a novel nonlinear synthetic polymer material (PIC hydrogels). He has published over ten papers in world-renowned journals such as Cell Reports Physical Science, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Bioactive Materials, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and Biomacromolecules. Dr. Liu has received the short-term funding from the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) as well as support from the Guangdong Provincial Overseas Postdoctoral Talent Support Program. He is also recognized as a Shenzhen Overseas High Level Talent.


Research Areas

​Cell-matrix reciprocity, 3D cell culture, PIC hydrogels


Education

2015-2020   PhD, Radboud University, The Netherlands
2014-2015   MSc, University College London, The UK
2010-2014   BSc, Nankai University, PRC


Experience

   
Work Experience

2024-now,  Associate Professor, SIAT, PRC
2023-2024, Assistant Professor, SIAT, PRC
2020-2023, Postdoc, SIAT, PRC


Publications

1. Liu, K. #, Vandaele, J. #, Yuan, H., Blank, K. G., Hammink, R., Kouwer, P. H., & Rocha, S. (2024). Structure and applications of PIC-based polymers and hydrogels. Cell Reports Physical Science, 5(2), 101834. 

 

2. Yuan, H. #, Liu, K. #, Cóndor, M., Barrasa-Fano, J., Louis, B., Vandaele, J., ... & Rocha, S. (2023). Synthetic fibrous hydrogels as a platform to decipher cell–matrix mechanical interactions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(15), e2216934120.  (Co-first author)

 

This work was highlighted in: Bakhshandeh, S. (2023). A designer matrix to study cell–ECM interactions. Nature Reviews Bioengineering, 1-1.

 

3. Liu, K., Wiendels, M., Yuan, H., Ruan, C., & Kouwer, P. H. (2022). Cell-matrix reciprocity in 3D culture models with nonlinear elasticity. Bioactive Materials, 9, 316-331.

 

4. Liu, K., Veenendaal, T., Wiendels, M., Ruiz-Zapata, A. M., van Laar, J., Kyranas, R., Enting, H., van Cranenbroek, B., Koenen, H., Mihaila, S., Oosterwijk, E., Kouwer, P.H. (2020) Synthetic extracellular matrices as a toolbox to tune stem cell secretome. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces,12(51), 56723-56730. (ACS LiveSlides available)

 

5. Liu, K., Mihaila, S. M., Rowan, A., Oosterwijk, E., & Kouwer, P. H. (2019). Synthetic extracellular matrices with nonlinear elasticity regulate cellular organization. Biomacromolecules, 20(2), 826-834. (ACS LiveSlides available)

This work was referenced in Chaudhuri, O., Cooper-White, J., Janmey, P. A., Mooney, D. J., & Shenoy, V. B. (2020). Effects of extracellular matrix viscoelasticity on cellular behaviour. Nature, 584(7822), 535-546.

 

6. Ma, C.#, Liu, K.#, Li, Q., Xiong, Y., Xu, C., Zhang, W., Ruan C., Li X., & Lei, X. (2022). Synthetic Extracellular Matrices for 3D Culture of Schwann Cells, Hepatocytes, and HUVECs. Bioengineering, 

9(9), 453. (Co-first author)

 

7. Liu, K., Vandaele, J., Bernhagen, D., van Erp, M., Oosterwijk, E., Timmerman, P., ... & Kouwer, P. H. (2022). Rapid stem cell spreading induced by high affinity α5β1 integrin-selective bicyclic RGD peptide in biomimetic hydrogels. bioRxiv, 2022-02. (Pre-print)