Ziru Li, PhD
Faculty Scientist I
Center for Molecular Medicine
Li Lab
Our lab investigates how the gut, bone, heart, and bone-resident cells interact—and how these communication networks shape overall metabolic and endocrine health.
A complete list of publications can be found on My NCBI
Picoli CC, Tsibulnikov S, Ho M, Demambro V, Feng T, Eltahir M, Le PT, Chlebek C, Rosen CJ, Ryzhov S, Li Z*. Vertical sleeve gastrectomy and semaglutide have distinct effects on skeletal health and heart function in obese male mice. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2025 Mar 12. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00521.2024. PMID: 40072928; PMCID: PMC12121371.
Li Z, Bagchi DP, Zhu J, Bowers E, Yu H, Hardij J, Mori H, Granger K, Skjaerlund J, Mandair G, Abrishami S, Singer K, Hankenson KD, Rosen CJ, MacDougald OA. Constitutive bone marrow adipocytes suppress local bone formation. JCI Insight. 2022 Nov 8;7(21):e160915. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.160915. PMID: 36048537; PMCID: PMC9675472.
Li Z, Bowers E, Zhu J, Yu H, Hardij J, Bagchi DP, Mori H, Lewis KT, Granger K, Schill RL, Romanelli SM, Abrishami S, Hankenson KD, Singer K, Rosen CJ, MacDougald O. Lipolysis of bone marrow adipocytes is required to fuel bone and the marrow niche during energy deficits. Elife. 2022 Jun 22;11:e78496. doi: 10.7554/eLife.78496. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35731039.
Li Z, Hardij J, Evers SS, Hutch CR, Choi SM, Shao Y, Learman BS, Lewis KT, Schill RL, Mori H, Corsa CAS, Bagchi DP, Romanelli SM, Kim K, Griffin C, Seeley RJ, Singer K, Sandoval DA, Rosen CJ, and MacDougald OA. G-CSF partially mediates effects of sleeve gastrectomy on the bone marrow niche. Journal of Clinical Investigation 129: 2404-2416, 2019. PMCID: PMC6546463
Li Z, Liu S, Lou J, Zhang W, Mulholland M. LGR4 protects hepatocytes from injury in mice. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 316: G123-G131, 2019. PMCID: PMC6383381
Li Z, Yu R, Yin W, Qin Y, Ma L, Mulholland M, Zhang W. mTOR signaling in X/A-like cells contributes to lipid homeostasis in mice. Hepatology 69: 860-875, 2018. PMCID: PMC6351211
Li Z, Zhang J, Zhang W, Mulholland M. mTOR activation protects liver from ischemia and reperfusion induced injury through NFκB pathway. FASEB J 31: 3018-3026, 2017. PMCID: PMC5471519
Li Z, Xu G, Qin Y, Zhang C, Tang H, Yin Y, Xiang X, Li Y, Zhao J, Mulholland M, Zhang W. Ghrelin promotes hepatic lipogenesis by activation of mTOR-PPARγ signaling pathway. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111: 13163-8, 2014. PMCID: PMC4246976