Andrew Cox laboratory

• 
  Head of Laboratory
  Dr Andrew Cox

  andrew.cox@petermac.org

  View researcher's webpage

  +61 3 8559 5439

Research Overview

In the Cox laboratory, we use zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model system to study the metabolic regulation of growth during embryonic development, regeneration and cancer.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of liver cancer and among the most fatal cancer types. Although the pathophysiology of HCC has not been fully elucidated, the process clearly arises in the context of chronic liver disease brought on by environmental factors, which conspire with oncogenic pathways to initiate tumourigenesis. One of the emerging hallmarks of cancer is reprogramming of metabolism. Our lab takes advantage of cutting-edge technologies including multiphoton microscopy, metabolomics, transcriptomics and chemical genetic screens to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of metabolic reprogramming in cancer.

Staff

Anthony Karamalakis, Research Assistant
Marcos Sande-Melón, Postdoctoral Fellow
Vicky Tan, PhD Research Student
Talhah Salmi, PhD Research Student
Athena Ong, PhD Research Student
Tara Tigani, Research Assistant
Mikaela Wong, Honours Student
Madeline Webb, Honours Student

Research Publications

Click here for the results of a PubMed search of Andrew's publications.

1. Salmi TM, Tan VWT, Cox AG* (2019). Dissecting metabolism using zebrafish models of disease. Biochem Soc Trans. 47(1):305-315. * Corresponding author.
2. Cox AG*, Tsomides A, Yimlamai D, Hwang KL, Miesfeld J, Galli GG, Fowl BH, Fort M, Ma KY, Sullivan MR, Hosios AM, Snay E, Yuan M, Brown KK, Lien EC, Chhangawala S, Steinhauser ML, Asara JM, Houvras Y, Link B, Vander Heiden MG, Camargo FD, Goessling W (2018). Yap regulates glucose utilization and sustains nucleotide synthesis to enable organ growth. EMBO J. 37(22). pii: e100294. * Co-corresponding author.
3. Cox AG, Tsomides A, Kim AJ, Saunders D, Hwang KL, Evason KJ, Heidel J, Brown KK, Yuan M, Lien EC, Lee BC, Nissim S, Dickinson B, Chhangawala S, Chang CJ, Asara JM, Houvras Y, Gladyshev VN, Goessling W (2016). Selenoprotein H is an essential regulator of redox homeostasis that cooperates with p53 in development and tumorigenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 113(38):E5562-71.
4. Cox AG, Hwang KL, Brown KK, Evason KJ, Beltz S, Tsomides A, O'Connor K, Galli GG, Yimlamai D, Chhangawala S, Yuan M, Lien EC, Wucherpfennig J, Nissim S, Minami A, Cohen DE, Camargo FD, Asara JM, Houvras Y, Stainier DY, Goessling W (2016). Yap reprograms glutamine metabolism to increase nucleotide biosynthesis and enable liver growth. Nat Cell Biol. 18(8):886-96.
5. Cox AG, Goessling W (2015). The lure of zebrafish in liver research: regulation of hepatic growth in development and regeneration. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 32:153-61.
6. Cox AG, Saunders DC, Kelsey PB Jr, Conway AA, Tesmenitsky Y, Marchini JF, Brown KK, Stamler JS, Colagiovanni DB, Rosenthal GJ, Croce KJ, North TE, Goessling W (2014). S-nitrosothiol signaling regulates liver development and improves outcome following toxic liver injury. Cell Rep. 6(1):56-69.
7. Rosenbluh J, Nijhawan D, Cox AG, Li X, Neal JT, Schafer EJ, Zack TI, Wang X, Tsherniak A, Schinzel AC, Shao DD, Schumacher SE, Weir BA, Vazquez F, Cowley GS, Root DE, Mesirov JP, Beroukhim R, Kuo CJ, Goessling W, Hahn WC (2012). β-Catenin-driven cancers require a YAP1 transcriptional complex for survival and tumorigenesis. Cell. 151(7):1457-73.