Professor Jonathan Harris
Faculty of Health,
School of Biomedical Sciences
Biography
Research theme: HealthResearch discipline: Cell and Molecular Biosciences
Research areas
Alternative Androgen Blockade:
The dominant strategy in chemotherapy for prostate cancer is to prevent testosterone from reaching the prostate tumour and stimulating its growth, a scheme known as androgen blockade. Testosterone is the dominant male hormone; consequently removing it has a range of undesirable side effects. Our research is directed at providing a complementary approach to androgen blockade without the side effects.
Prevention of prostate cancer metastasis:
Previous work in the hormone dependent cancer research program has identified the protease KLK4 as a potential target in preventing metastasis of prostate cancer cells. Accordingly we have developed inhibitors to this enzyme and these are being tested on prostate tumour cells growing in test tube conditions to gauge their effects on metastatic behaviour.
Enhancing hormone action:
The hormone Ghrelin has a potential therapeutic role in treatment of eating disorders. We have designed and synthesised a novel form of the hormone with enhanced stability and increased potency when tested on cells grown under experimental conditions.
Personal details
Positions
- Professor in Protein Biochemistry
Faculty of Health,
School of Biomedical Sciences
Keywords
Drug design, Molecular modelling, Protein chemistry
Research field
Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD in Biochemistry (University of Queensland)
Teaching
Teaching discipline: Cell and Molecular Biosciences
Publications
- Butler, L., Harris, J., Buchanan, G., Tilley, W. & Birrell, S. (2007). Disruption of Androgen Receptor Signaling by Synthetic Progestins May Increase Risk of Developing Breast Cancer. FASEB Journal, 21, 2285–2293. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/43205
- Buchanan, G., Ricciardelli, C., Harris, J., Prescott, J., Yu, C., Butler, L., Marshall, V., Scher, H., Coetzee, G. & Tilley, W. (2007). Control of Androgen Receptor Signaling in Prostate Cancer by the Cochaperone Small Glutamine-rich Tetratricopeptide Repeat Containing Protein Alpha. Cancer Research, 67, 10087–10096. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/42744
- Huston, W., Swedberg, J., Harris, J., Walsh, T., Mathews, S. & Timms, P. (2007). The Temperature Activated HtrA Protease from Pathogen Chlamydia Trachomatis acts as both a Chaperone and Protease at 37. FEBS Letters, 581(18), 3382–3386. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/12059
- Lai, J., Kedda, M., Hinze, K., Smith, R., Yaxley, J., Spurdle, A., Morris, C., Harris, J. & Clements, J. (2007). PSA/KLK3 AREI Promoter Polymorphism Alters Androgen Receptor Binding and is Associated with Prostate Cancer Susceptibility. Carcinogenesis, 28(5), 1032–1039. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/8855
- Buchanan, G., Birrell, S., Peters, A., Bianco-Miotto, T., Ramsay, K., Cops, E., Yang, M., Harris, J., Simila, H., Moore, N., Bentel, J., Ricciardelli, C., Horsfall, D., Butler, L. & Tilley, W. (2005). Decreased Androgen Receptor Levels and Receptor Function in Breast Cancer Contribute to the Failure of Response to Medroxyprogesterone Acetate. Cancer Research, 65(18), 8487–8496. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/10274
- Han, G., Buchanan, G., Ittmann, M., Harris, J., Yu, X., DeMayo, F., Tilley, W. & Greenberg, N. (2005). Mutation of the Androgen Receptor Causes Oncogenic Transformation of the Prostate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(4), 1151–1156. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/10273
- Wansa, K., Harris, J., Yan, G., Ordentlich, P. & Muscat, G. (2003). The AF-1 Domain of the Orphan Nuclear Recepror NOR-1 Mediates Trans-Activation, Coactivator Recruitment, and Activation by the Purine Anti-Metabolite 6-Mercaptorpurine. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 278(27), 24776–24790. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/22828
- Wan, Y., Zheng, Y., Harris, J., Brown, R. & Waters, M. (2003). Epitope Map for a Growth Hormone Receptor Agonist Monoclonal Antibody, MAb 263. Molecular Endocrinology, 17(11), 2240–2250. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/22056
- Harris, J., Lau, P., Chen, S. & Muscat, G. (2002). Characterization of the Retinoid Orphan-Related Receptor-a Coactivator Binding Interface: A Structural Basis for Ligand-Independent Transcription. Molecular Endocrinology, 16(5), 998–1012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/9927
- James, A., Agoulnik, I., Harris, J., Buchanan, G., Tilley, W., Marcelli, M., Lamb, D. & Weigel, N. (2002). A Novel Androgen Receptor Mutant, A748T, Exhibits Hormone Concentration-Dependent Defects in Nuclear Accumulation and Activity Despite Normal Hormone-Binding Affinity. Molecular Endocrinology, 16(12), 2692–2705. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/22149
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Jonathan, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).