The Grainger College of Engineering
Bioengineering

CCIL Seed Grant Supports Study of Drug Resistance in Cancer Therapy

2/18/2025 Javeria Malik

Yang Liu, a professor of bioengineering and a member of the Cancer Center at Illinois, has received a CCIL Seed Grant to advance her research on drug resistance in cancer treatments. Her project, “Multiscale High-Content Cancer Imaging to Identify Molecular Signatures in Drug-Tolerant Cancer Cells,” employs imaging technology from the nanoscale to the mesoscale to pinpoint and characterize the aggressive, drug-resistant cells that emerge during treatment. By analyzing changes in chromatin structure and molecular attributes, Liu aims to predict resistance and identify potent therapeutic targets, ultimately leading to more effective and personalized cancer therapies. With nearly two decades of experience and having joined Illinois in early 2024, her innovative approach holds promise for benefiting patients across various solid tumors.

Written by Javeria Malik

Bioengineering Professor Yang Liu
Professor Yang Liu

Yang Liu, a member of the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) and professor of bioengineering, received a CCIL Seed Grant to support her research in addressing drug resistance in cancer treatments. CCIL seed grants provide funding that enables faculty teams to develop noble cancer research ideas, collect preliminary data, and attract external funding.

Liu’s project, “Multiscale High-Content Cancer Imaging to Identify Molecular Signatures in Drug-Tolerant Cancer Cells,” seeks to develop a more effective approach to identify the drug-resistant cancer cells and find out why these cells evade chemotherapy.

“Cancer cells adapt progressively over the course of treatment and develop characteristics that enable them to escape,” said Liu. “One of the major purposes of this grant is to characterize these characteristics.”

The project analyzes the chromatin structure within the cells to reveal the physical and molecular characteristics when drug-naïve cancer cells transition into resistant phenotypes. Liu plans to use multiscale imaging technology ranging from nanoscale to mesoscale to answer these questions.

To learn more about Yang Liu’s research,
watch the CCIL series “Why I Study Cancer.”

 

Liu said, “Multiscale imaging technology allows us to identify a small subset of highly aggressive drug-resistant cells within a large tumor cell population and characterize their underlying molecular attributes. I call this a multi-scale approach because it integrates large-scale population analysis with molecular-level information and provides a comprehensive understanding of tumor heterogeneity and potential therapeutic vulnerabilities.”

Liu joined Illinois recently in the beginning of 2024, bringing along with her a rich experience of integrating engineering tools with biological research. She has nearly two decades of cancer research experience under her belt.

Liu’s initial focus for the project was colon cancer and the current project with CCIL is to expand it to head and neck cancers, in collaboration with Dr. Chitra Subramanian, also a member of CCIL. However, the characteristics discovered through this research will be broadly applicable to different types of cancers. “Our ultimate goal is to work toward tools that can predict resistance and identify more potent therapeutic targets, ultimately leading to more effective and personalized treatments.”

This study could potentially benefit patients with various solid tumors, offering hope for more effective treatments. “This is not just about publishing another paper,” said Liu. “It’s about making a difference.”

 

Editor’s Notes:

Yang Liu is a professor in the Department of Bioengineering, a research member of the Cancer Center at Illinois and the Beckman Institute.

This story first appeared on the Cancer Center for Illinois site here.

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This story was published February 18, 2025.