Associate Professor Andrew Brooks

Associate Professor in Biomedical Science - School of Science and Technology

Andrew Brooks

Mobile: 0423 195 679

Email: abrook28@une.edu.au

Building: Mcclymont W034 Rm 329

Qualifications

BBiomedSc (Hons), PhD

Teaching Areas

Biochemistry and Cell Biology

Primary Research Area/s

Growth hormone receptor signalling; cytokine receptor signalling, inflammation; immunology; cancer

Research Interests

Andrew’s primary research focus is on cytokine receptors. These receptors are single-pass transmembrane proteins that bind extracellular cytokines and transmit an intracellular signal by activating specific tyrosine kinases. These receptors play a pivotal role in many cellular processes regulating a vast range of essential physiological functions, including metabolism control, neural stem cell activation, inflammatory responses, bone development, as well as blood cell and immune cell development and growth. They are also involved in reproduction, lactation, postnatal growth, and body composition. Andrew has a strong focus on the growth hormone receptor (GHR) which is an archetype for the class I cytokine receptor family. This family of receptors comprises over 30 members with diverse functions that bind ligands on their extracellular domain (ECD) including erythropoietin (EPO), prolactin (PRL), growth hormone (GH), thrombopoietin (TPO), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-3 (IL-3), IL-6, and IL-21. He also has a theme on investigating the regulation of inflammation by HLA-G. His studies have characterised the molecular mechanisms of the GHR activation and defined important functions of this receptor signalling including in liver regeneration, lifespan, cancer incidence, and insulin sensitivity. His research has led to publications in journals including Science, Blood, Hepatology, Cell Reports, Oncogene, Nature Cell Biology, and PNAS.

AEA (Australian Economic Accelerator) Seed ($428,650), 2023-2025

Title: Confidential – commercially sensitive, Lead Entrepreneur: A/Prof Andrew Brooks.

Innovations Connections ($104,416), 2020-2021

Title: CD14 inhibition in a Liver Inflammation mouse model. CIA: Dr Andrew Brooks, CIB: Dr Katherine Irvine.

ARC Discovery Project (DP200102011, $485,000), 2020-2023

Title: Saving your skin: physiology of immune regulation in mammalian lymph nodes. CI1: Dr James Wells, CI2: Prof Ian Frazer, CI3: Dr Andrew Brooks.

NHMRC Project (APP1157348, $667,521), 2019-2021

Title: The Structural Basis of Cytokine Receptor Triggering. CIA: Dr Melissa Call, CIB: Dr Andrew Brooks, CIC: A/Prof Matthew Call.

Research Supervision Experience

I have supervised over 30 research students, including 10 PhD, 14 Masters, 9 Honours, 4 undergraduate research project students, and four international research internship students.

Publications

  • Chhabra, Y., Bielefeldt-Ohmann, H., Brooks, T. L., Brooks, A. J., & Waters, M. J. (2024). Roles of Growth Hormone-Dependent JAK-STAT5 and Lyn Kinase Signaling in Determining Lifespan and Cancer Incidence. Endocrinology, 165(11). https://doi.org/10.1210/endocr/bqae136
  • Rossi, G. R., Sun, J., Lin, C. Y., Wong, J. K., Alim, L., Lam, P. Y., Khosrotehrani, K., Wolvetang, E., Cheetham, S. W., Derrick, E. B., Amoako, A., Lehner, C., Brooks, A. J., Beavis, P. A., & Souza-Fonseca-Guimaraes, F. (2024). A scalable, spin-free approach to generate enhanced induced pluripotent stem cell-derived natural killer cells for cancer immunotherapy. Immunol Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1111/imcb.12820
  • Gormal, R. S., Martinez-Marmol, R., Brooks, A. J., & Meunier, F. A. (2024). Location, location, location: Protein kinase nanoclustering for optimised signalling output. Elife, 13. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.93902
  • Chhabra, Y., Seiffert, P., Gormal, R. S., Vullings, M., Lee, C. M. M., Wallis, T. P., Dehkhoda, F., Indrakumar, S., Jacobsen, N. L., Lindorff-Larsen, K., Durisic, N., Waters, M. J., Meunier, F. A., Kragelund, B. B., & Brooks, A. J. (2023). Tyrosine kinases compete for growth hormone receptor binding and regulate receptor mobility and degradation. Cell Rep, 42(5), 112490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112490
  • Chhabra, Y., Lee, C. M. M., Muller, A. F., & Brooks, A. J. (2021). GHR signalling: Receptor activation and degradation mechanisms. Mol Cell Endocrinol, 520, 111075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2020.111075
  • Ishikawa, M., Brooks, A. J., Fernandez-Rojo, M. A., Medina, J., Chhabra, Y., Minami, S., Tunny, K. A., Parton, R. G., Vivian, J. P., Rossjohn, J., Chikani, V., Ramm, G. A., Ho, K. K. Y., & Waters, M. J. (2021). Growth Hormone Stops Excessive Inflammation After Partial Hepatectomy, Allowing Liver Regeneration and Survival Through Induction of H2-Bl/HLA-G. Hepatology, 73(2), 759-775. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.31297
  • Bridgford, J. L., Lee, S. M., Lee, C. M. M., Guglielmelli, P., Rumi, E., Pietra, D., Wilcox, S., Chhabra, Y., Rubin, A. F., Cazzola, M., Vannucchi, A. M., Brooks, A. J., Call, M. E., & Call, M. J. (2020). Novel drivers and modifiers of MPL-dependent oncogenic transformation identified by deep mutational scanning. Blood, 135(4), 287-292. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2019002561
  • Campos, L. W., Zenatti, P. P., Pissinato, L. G., Rodrigues, G. O. L., Artico, L. L., Guimaraes, T. R., Archangelo, L. F., Martinez, L., Brooks, A. J., & Yunes, J. A. (2019). Oncogenic basic amino acid insertions at the extracellular juxtamembrane region of IL7RA cause receptor hypersensitivity. Blood, 133(11), 1259-1263. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2018-09-872945
  • Chhabra, Y., Nelson, C. N., Plescher, M., Barclay, J. L., Smith, A. G., Andrikopoulos, S., Mangiafico, S., Waxman, D. J., Brooks, A. J., & Waters, M. J. (2019). Loss of growth hormone-mediated signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) signaling in mice results in insulin sensitivity with obesity. Faseb J, 33(5), 6412-6430. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201802328R
  • Brooks, A. J., Dehkhoda, F., & Kragelund, B. B. (2018). Cytokine receptors. In A. Belfiore & D. LeRoith (Eds.), Endocrinology: principles of endocrinology and hormone action (pp. 157-185). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44675-2_8
  • Chhabra, Y., Wong, H. Y., Nikolajsen, L. F., Steinocher, H., Papadopulos, A., Tunny, K. A., Meunier, F. A., Smith, A. G., Kragelund, B. B., Brooks, A. J., & Waters, M. J. (2018). A growth hormone receptor SNP promotes lung cancer by impairment of SOCS2-mediated degradation. Oncogene, 37(4), 489-501. https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2017.352
  • Dehkhoda, F., Lee, C. M. M., Medina, J., & Brooks, A. J. (2018). The Growth Hormone Receptor: Mechanism of Receptor Activation, Cell Signaling, and Physiological Aspects [Review]. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 9(35). https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00035
  • Brooks, A. J., Dai, W., O'Mara, M. L., Abankwa, D., Chhabra, Y., Pelekanos, R. A., Gardon, O., Tunny, K. A., Blucher, K. M., Morton, C. J., Parker, M. W., Sierecki, E., Gambin, Y., Gomez, G. A., Alexandrov, K., Wilson, I. A., Doxastakis, M., Mark, A. E., & Waters, M. J. (2014). Mechanism of activation of protein kinase JAK2 by the growth hormone receptor. Science, 344(6185), 1249783. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1249783
  • Chhabra, Y., Waters, M. J., & Brooks, A. J. (2011). Role of the growth hormone–IGF-1 axis in cancer. Expert Review of Endocrinology & Metabolism, 6, 71-84. https://doi.org/doi:10.1586/eem.10.73
  • Brooks, A. J., & Waters, M. J. (2010). The growth hormone receptor: mechanism of activation and clinical implications. Nat Rev Endocrinol, 6(9), 515-525. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2010.123
  • Rowlinson, S. W., Yoshizato, H., Barclay, J. L., Brooks, A. J., Behncken, S. N., Kerr, L. M., Millard, K., Palethorpe, K., Nielsen, K., Clyde-Smith, J., Hancock, J. F., & Waters, M. J. (2008). An agonist-induced conformational change in the growth hormone receptor determines the choice of signalling pathway. Nat Cell Biol, 10(6), 740-747. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1737
  • Conway-Campbell, B. L., Wooh, J. W., Brooks, A. J., Gordon, D., Brown, R. J., Lichanska, A. M., Chin, H. S., Barton, C. L., Boyle, G. M., Parsons, P. G., Jans, D. A., & Waters, M. J. (2007). Nuclear targeting of the growth hormone receptor results in dysregulation of cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 104(33), 13331-13336. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0600181104

Consultancy Interests

Growth hormone, cytokines, cell-based cancer therapies