Adrian Herington

After completing his PhD in Biochemistry at Monash University, Professor Herington spent two years as a postdoctoral Fellow in the Laboratory of Dr William Daughaday, the "father of the insulin-like growth factors (IGF)”. Returning to Australia in 1974, he worked primarily in the growth hormone (GH) and IGF fields at Prince Henry’s Hospital Research Centre and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. During this time, he developed a strong national/international reputation for his contributions to understanding the characterisation, hormonal regulation, and solubilisation/purification of the GH receptor and the circulating soluble binding protein for GH.

Prior to his current role, Prof. Herington held positions as Professor of Biochemistry; Head of School of Life Sciences (2000-2010); and Portfolio Director (Maths, Information & Physical Sciences) at Queensland University of Technology.

The recent focus of his research has been on the role and mechanisms of the action of the GH secretagogue and metabolic regulator, ghrelin, in hormone dependent cancers (prostate, breast and ovarian). Together with Assoc Prof. Lisa Chopin, he has pioneered studies on the expression, characterisation, and mechanism of action of ghrelin in stimulating cell proliferation in these cancer cells. More recent research interests in the hormone-dependent cancer field involve the Eph/Ephrin receptor-ligand system, their regulation by kallikrein proteases, and their therapeutic implications in breast and prostate cancer.

Prof. Herington has a total of 194 research papers/major reviews published/submitted in highly regarded refereed international journals/books.

1. Jeffery PL, Murray RE, Yeh AH, McNamara JF, Duncan RP, Stein S, Herington AC & Chopin LK.  Expression and function of the ghrelin axis, including a novel proghrelin isoform, in human breast cancer tumours and cell lines. Endocrine Related Cancer 12: 839-850, 2005
2. Yeh A, Jeffery PL, Herington AC & Chopin LK.  Ghrelin and a novel preproghrelin isoform are highly expressed in prostate cancer and ghrelin activates mitogen-activated protein kinase in prostate cancer. Clin Cancer Research 11: 8295-8303, 2005
3. Seim I, Herington AC, Chopin LK. New insights into the molecular complexity of the ghrelin gene locus. Cytokine & Growth Factor Res, 2009; 20:297-304
4. Kricker JA, Hyde C, Van Lonkhuyzen D, Hollier B, Shooter G, Leavesley D, Herington AC, Upton Z. Mechanistic investigations into interactions between IGF-I and IGFBPs and their impact on facilitating cell migration on vitronectin. Growth Factors 28: 359-369, 2010
5. Seim I, Josh P, Cunningham P, Herington AC, Chopin LK. Ghrelin axis genes, peptides and receptors: recent findings and future challenges. In: The ghrelin axis in disease (Eds Herington AC, Chopin LK) Special Issue; Mol Cell Endocrinol 340: 3-9  2011CHOPIN LK, WALPOLE C, SEIM I, CUNNINGHAM P, MURRAY R, WHITESIDE E, JOSH P, HERINGTON AC. Ghrelin and cancer. In: The ghrelin axis in disease (Eds Herington AC, Chopin LK) Special Issue; Mol Cell Endocrinol 340: 65-69  2011
6. SEIM I, WALPOLE C, AMORIM L, JOSH P, HERINGTON AC, CHOPIN LK. The expanding roles of the ghrelin-gene derived peptide obestatin in health and disease. In: The ghrelin axis in disease (Eds Herington AC, Chopin LK) Special Issue; Mol Cell Endocrinol 340: 111-117  2011
7. LUBIK A, GUNTER J, HENDY S, LOCKE J, ADOMAT H, THOMPSON V, HERINGTON AC, GLEAVE M, POLLAK M, NELSON C. Insulin increases de novo steroidogenesis in prostate cancer cells. Cancer Res 71: 5754-5764  2011
8. RUTKOWSKI R, MERTENS-WALKER I, LISLE JE, HERINGTON AC, STEPHENSON SA. Evidence for a dual function of EphB4 in tumour promotion and suppression regulated by the absence or presence of the ephrinB2 ligand. Int J Cancer 131: E614-24. doi: 10.1002/ijc.27392. 2012
9. CHOPIN LK, SEIM I, WALPOLE C, HERINGTON AC. The ghrelin axis – does it have an appetite for cancer progression? Endocrine Rev (in press) July 23, 2012 doi: 10.1210/er.2011-1007, 2012

• Inga Mertens-Walker