Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Position
NHMRC Senior Research Fellow
Head: Metabolic Receptor Biology Laboratory
Drug Discovery Biology
Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Denise Wootten completed her PhD in 2008 at the University of Birmingham in the UK before moving to MIPS in 2009. Her expertise is in the study of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). These proteins represent the largest family of receptors in the human genome and the biggest class of current drug targets.
Research interests
Denise's laboratory focuses on studying the class B subfamily of receptors that regulate the function of key peptide hormones that are involved in many physiological processes. The specific receptors that the research is principally focused include the glucagon and calcitonin receptor families that are important clinical targets for metabolic diseases (diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis). The laboratory uses a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses structural and computational biology, molecular and mathematical modelling, biochemistry and cellular signal transduction, native tissue bioassays and preclinical animal models to study and understand two key paradigms of drug action at these receptors, specifically, allosteric modulation and biased agonism. These phenomenon are key areas at the forefront of GPCR research as these are considered critical to future successful drug discovery and development.
Selected recent original research articles
1) Yi-Lynn Liang, Maryam Khoshouei, Giuseppe Deganutti, Alisa Glukhova, Cassandra Koole, Thomas S. Peat, Mazdak Radjainia, Jürgen M. Plitzko, Wolfgang Baumeister, Laurence J. Miller, Deborah l. Hay, Arthur Christopoulos, Christopher A. Reynolds, Denise Wootten* & Patrick M. Sexton*. Cryo-EM structure of the active, Gs- protein complexed, human CGRP receptor. Nature (2018) Sep;561(7724):492-497.
2) Yi-Lynn Liang, Maryam Khoshouei, Alisa Glukhova, Sebastian G. B. Furness, Peishen Zhao, Lachlan Clydesdale, Cassandra Koole, Tin T. Truong, David M Thal, Saifei Lei, Mazdak Radjainia, Radostin Danev, Wolfgang Baumeister, Ming-Wei Wang, Laurence J. Miller, Arthur Christopoulos, Patrick M. Sexton, Denise Wootten. Phase-plate cryo-EM structure of a biased agonist-bound human GLP-1 receptor-Gs complex. Nature (2018) Mar 1:555(7694):121-125.
3) Dal Maso E, Zhu Y, Pham V, Reynolds CA, Deganutti G, Hick CA, Yang D, Christopoulos A, Hay DL, Wang MW, Sexton PM, Furness SGB, Wootten D. Exracellular loops 2 and 3 of the calcitonin receptor selectively modify agonist binding and efficacy. Biochem Pharmacol. (2018) 150; 214-244.
4) Fletcher MM, Halls ML, Zhao P, Clydesdale L, Christopoulos A, Sexton PM, Wootten D. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor internalisation controls spatiotemporal signalling mediated by biased agonists. Biochem Pharmacol. (2018) 156:406-419.
5) Liang YL, Khoshouei M, Radjainia M, Zhang Y, Glukhova A, Tarrasch J, Thal DM, Furness SGB, Christopoulos G, Coudrat T, Danev R, Baumeister W, Miller LJ, Christopoulos A, Kobilka BK, Wootten D*, Skiniotis G*, Sexton PM*. Phase-plate cryo-EM structure of a class B GPCR-G-protein complex. Nature (2017) 546(7656):118-123.
6) Wootten D, Reynolds CA, Smith KJ, Mobarec JC, Koole C, Savage EE, Pabreja K, Simms J, Sridhar R, Furness SG, Liu M, Thompson PE, Miller LJ, Christopoulos A, Sexton PM.The Extracellular Surface of the GLP-1 Receptor Is a Molecular Trigger for Biased Agonism. Cell (2016) 165(7):1632-43.
7) Furness SGB, Liang Y-L, Nowell CJ, Halls ML, Wookey PJ, Dal Maso E, Inoue A, Christopoulos A, Wootten D, Sexton PM. Ligand-dependent modulation of G protein conformation alters drug efficacy. Cell (2016) 167(3):739-749.
Selected recent review articles
8) Wootten D*, Christopoulos A, Marti-Solano M, Babu MM, Sexton PM*. Mechanisms and signalling and biased agonism in G protein-coupled receptors. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. (2018) 19(10):638-653
9) Wootten D*, Miller LJ, Koole C, Christopoulos A, Sexton PM*. Allostery and Biased Agonism at Class B G Protein-Coupled Receptors. Chem Rev. (2017) 117(1):111-138.
10) Graaf Cd*, Donnelly D*, Wootten D*, Lau J, Sexton PM, Miller LJ, Ahn JM, Liao J, Fletcher MM, Yang D, Brown AJ, Zhou C, Deng J, Wang MW. Glucagon-like Peptide-1 and its Class B G Protein-coupled Receptor: A Long March to Therapeutic Success. Pharmacol Rev. (2016) 68(4):954-1013.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Structure determination of GPCR heteromers
Sexton, P., Wootten, D., Belousoff, M. & Shepard, R.
27/07/23 → 26/07/27
Project: Research
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Cryo correlative Focused Ion Beam, a new frontier in structural biology
Hanssen, E. G., Ghosal, D., McFadden, G. I., Rouiller, I., Parker, M. W., Ivanova, E. P., Wootten, D., Belousoff, M., Lucet, I., Czabotar, P. E. & Bouwer, J.
17/04/23 → 16/04/24
Project: Research
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Development of approaches for inactive, antagonist bound GPCR structures determination
Wootten, D., Sexton, P., Belousoff, M., Johnson, R. & Han, S.
22/02/22 → 21/02/26
Project: Research
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Molecular insights into peptide agonist engagement with the PTH receptor
Cary, B. P., Gerrard, E. J., Belousoff, M. J., Fletcher, M. M., Jiang, Y., Russell, I. C., Piper, S. J., Wootten, D. & Sexton, P. M., 1 Jun 2023, In: Structure. 31, 6, p. 668-676.e5 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
2 Citations (Scopus) -
New Insights into the Structure and Function of Class B1 GPCRs
Cary, B. P., Zhang, X., Cao, J., Johnson, R. M., Piper, S. J., Gerrard, E. J., Wootten, D. & Sexton, P. M., 1 Jun 2023, In: Endocrine Reviews. 44, 3, p. 492-517 26 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access2 Citations (Scopus) -
Pharmacological hallmarks of allostery at the M4 muscarinic receptor elucidated through structure and dynamics
Vuckovic, Z., Wang, J., Pham, V., Mobbs, J. I., Belousoff, M. J., Bhattarai, A., Burger, W. A. C., Thompson, G., Yeasmin, M., Nawaratne, V., Leach, K., van der Westhuizen, E. T., Khajehali, E., Liang, Y. L., Glukhova, A., Wootten, D., Lindsley, C. W., Tobin, A., Sexton, P., Danev, R., & 4 others , 30 May 2023, (Accepted/In press) In: eLife. 52 p., e83477.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access3 Citations (Scopus) -
A structural basis for amylin receptor phenotype
Cao, J., Belousoff, M. J., Liang, Y. L., Johnson, R. M., Josephs, T. M., Fletcher, M. M., Christopoulos, A., Hay, D. L., Danev, R., Wootten, D. & Sexton, P. M., 25 Mar 2022, In: Science. 375, 6587, 14 p., eabm9609.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
20 Citations (Scopus) -
Dynamics of GLP-1R peptide agonist engagement are correlated with kinetics of G protein activation
Deganutti, G., Liang, Y. L., Zhang, X., Khoshouei, M., Clydesdale, L., Belousoff, M. J., Venugopal, H., Truong, T. T., Glukhova, A., Keller, A. N., Gregory, K. J., Leach, K., Christopoulos, A., Danev, R., Reynolds, C. A., Zhao, P., Sexton, P. M. & Wootten, D., 2022, In: Nature Communications. 13, 18 p., 92.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access18 Citations (Scopus)
Activities
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2022 ASCEPT Drug Discovery Special Interest Group ECR & student symposium
Emma van der Westhuizen (Organiser), Denise Wootten (Organiser), Michelle Halls (Organiser), Simon Foster (Organiser), Carl White (Organiser), Liz Johnstone (Organiser), Jack U Flanagan (Organiser) & Nicholas Hunt (Organiser)
19 Aug 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
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Drug Discovery Biology
Denise Wootten (Member)
1 Dec 2011Activity: External Academic Engagement › Submissions to industry or govt committees, commissions and inquiries