Associate Professor Amee J. George

Contacts

BSc (Hons), PhD
Associate Professor in Pharmacogenomic Technologies
Lead, ANU Centre for Therapeutic Discovery (ACTD)

Associate Professor George currently leads a specific research program into disorders of ribosome biogenesis (ribosomopathies) and the molecular mechanism(s) and signalling pathways which link this process to the nucleolus, a key structure in ribosome biogenesis. She is also a national specialist in high-throughput and high-content screening, leading the ANU Centre for Therapeutic Discovery (ACTD). Through this role, she has a research interest in identifying disease biomarkers (genotype-phenotype) and therapeutic targets for drug discovery, utilising functional (RNAi/CRISPR) and molecule/biologic approaches and high-content imaging readouts. She also has an interest in developing new approaches to model disease in vitro, with a view to use these models for drug discovery projects (including complex 2D and 3D cellular models).

Research interests

  • Drug discovery
  • Functional genomics
  • Ribosome biogenesis and the nucleolus
  • Bone Marrow Failure
  • Ribosomopathies (Diamond Blackfan Anaemia)
  • Cancer cell biology
  • Cancer and rare disease therapeutics

Areas of Expertise

  • High throughput screening (biologics and compounds)
  • Functional genomics and phenotypic screening
  • Functional screening (siRNA, CRISPR screening)
  • High content microscopy imaging and data analysis
  • Ribosome biogenesis
  • Ribosomopathies (Diamond Blackfan Anaemia)
  • Cancer cell biology
  • Cell signalling
  • Cell biology

Groups

Projects

Hicks, S, Pohl, K, Neeman, T et al. 2021, 'A Dual-Antigen Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Allows the Assessment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Antibody Seroprevalence in a Low-Transmission Setting', Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 223, no. 1, pp. 10-14.

Chan, K, Blake, S, Zhu, H et al. 2020, 'A functional genetic screen defines the AKT-induced senescence signaling network', Cell Death and Differentiation, vol. 27, pp. 725-741.

Chin, C, Antony, J, Ketharnathan, S et al. 2020, 'Cohesin mutations are synthetic lethal with stimulation of WNT signaling', eLife, vol. 9.

Nunez Villacis, L, Al-Obaidi, S, Madhamshettiwar, P et al. 2018, 'A High-Throughput Screening Approach to Identify Therapeutics for the Treatment of Diamond-Blackfan Anaemia', Blood, vol. 132, no. 1.

Chen, J, Siva, K, Rzymski, T et al. 2018, 'Small Molecule Screens Identify CDK8-Inhibitors As Candidate Diamond-Blackfan Anemia Drugs [Meeting Abstract]', Blood, vol. 132, no. 1.

Nunez Villacis, L, Wong, M, Ferguson, L et al. 2018, 'New Roles for the Nucleolus in Health and Disease', Bioessays, vol. 40, no. 5, pp. 11pp.

He, J, Soo, H, Evers, M et al. 2018, 'High-Content Imaging Approaches to Quantitate Stress-Induced Changes in Nucleolar Morphology', Assay and Drug Development Technologies, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 320-332pp.

Coulson, R, Liew, S, Connelly, A et al 2017, 'The angiotensin receptor blocker, Losartan, inhibits mammary tumor development and progression to invasive carcinoma', Oncotarget, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 18640-18656pp.

Hein, N, Cameron, D, Hannan, K et al. 2017, 'Inhibition of Pol I transcription treats murine and human AML by targeting the leukemia-initiating cell population', Blood, vol. 129, no. 21, pp. 2882-2895pp.

George, A, Allen, A & Chand, A 2017, 'Repurposing ARBs as treatments for breast cancer', Aging, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 1357-1358pp.

Venugopal, P, Moore, S, Lawrence, D et al 2017, 'Self-reverting mutations partially correct the blood phenotype in a Diamond Blackfan Anemia patient', Haematologica, vol. 102, no. 12, pp. e506-e509pp.

Devlin, J, Hannan, K, Hein, N et al. 2016, 'Combination Therapy Targeting Ribosome Biogenesis and mRNA Translation Synergistically Extends Survival in MYC-Driven Lymphoma', Cancer Discovery, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 59-70.

Quin, J, Chan, K, Devlin, J et al. 2016, 'Inhibition of RNA polymerase I transcription initiation by CX-5461 activates non-canonical ATM/ATR signaling', Oncotarget, vol. 7, no. 31, pp. 49800-49818.

Chan, K, Paavolainen, L, Hannan, K et al. 2016, 'Combining high-content imaging and phenotypic classification analysis of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase staining to identify regulators of oncogene-induced senescence', Assay and Drug Development Technologies, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 416-428.

Harrison, S, George, A & Hannan, R 2015, 'Commentary - A new window on cancer therapy? Targeting the nucleolus and ribosome biogenesis using the small molecule inhibitor of polymerase I transcription, CX-5461', International Journal of Hematologic Oncology, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 61-65pp.

Sjogren, S, Siva, K, Soneji, S et al 2015, 'Glucocorticoids improve erythroid progenitor maintenance and dampen Trp53 response in a mouse model of Diamond-Blackfan anaemia', British Journal of Haematology, vol. 171, no. 4, pp. 517-529.

Hein, N, Hannan, K, George, A et al. 2013, 'The nucleolus: An emerging target for cancer therapy', Trends in Molecular Medicine, vol. 19, no. 11, pp. 643-654.

George, A, Purdue, B, Gould, C et al 2013, 'A functional siRNA screen identifies genes modulating angiotensin II-mediated EGFR transactivation', Journal of Cell Science, vol. 126, no. 23, pp. 5377-5390.

George, A, Hannan, R & Thomas, W 2013, 'Unravelling the molecular complexity of GPCR-mediated EGFR transactivation using functional genomics approaches', The FEBS Journal, vol. 280, no. 21, pp. 5258-5268.

George, A, Purdue, B, Gould, K et al 2012, 'A Functional SiRNA Screening Approach to Investigate the Mechanism Underlying GPCR-mediated EGFR Transactivation in Malignancy', European Journal of Cancer, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. S149-S149.

Astle, M, Hannan, K, Ng, P et al. 2012, 'AKT induces senescence in human cells via mTORC1 and p53 in the absence of DNA damage: Implications for targeting mTOR during malignancy', Oncogene, vol. 31, no. 15, pp. 1949-1962.

George, A, Thomas, W & Hannan, R 2010, 'The renin-angiotensin system and cancer: Old dog, new tricks', Nature Reviews Cancer, vol. 10, no. 11, pp. 745-759.

George, A, Gordon, L, Beissbarth, T et al 2010, 'A Serial Analysis of Gene Expression Profile of the Alzheimer's Disease Tg2576 Mouse Model', Neurotoxicity Research, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 360-379.

Wong, L, McGhie, J, Sim, M et al 2010, 'ATRX interacts with H3.3 in maintaining telomere structural integrity in pluripotent embryonic stem cells', Genome Research, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 351-360.