
Dr John Bruning
Senior Lecturer
School of Biological Sciences
Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
I am an expert in structural biology of proteins and protein interactions who has solved the crystal structures of dozens of proteins and protein-ligand complexes. My research has been published in high impact journals such as Nature, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Communications, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, and Angewandte Chemie, and has published ~120 manuscripts. The Laboratory of Protein Crystallography at UoA is one of the few in the world that can purify human PCNA in the quantities and quality necessary for structural studies.
I head the Laboratory of Protein Crystallography which studeis Nuclear Receptors, Microbial Enzymology, and Broad-Based Cancer Therapeutics. Understanding human disease requires knowledge of the structure-function relationships in protein sensor modulation.This knowledge is incomplete on a broad spectrum of biological systems including nuclear receptor (NR) signalling, proteins involved in cancer biology, and pathogen protein machinery. Our research is focused on understanding these classes of protein interactions on an atomic level. In addition to gaining a basic understanding of protein mechanism, we also focus on structure guided drug design. In our work in understanding NR signalling, we have uncovered new paradigms in NR allostery. These allosteric modulations can now be further studied on a broader scale and harnessed to employ structure guided drug design. Work in the tuberculosis (TB) structural biology consortium has led to a quantum leap in understanding enzymology of the pathogen allowing for new chemotherapy development. We wish to use similar methodology to study a fungal pathogen for the discovery of new anti-fungal molecules.Our research with proteins of the human replication fork, such as PCNA (Proliferating Cellular Nuclear Antigen) has uncovered atomic determinants of these protein modulators that can be used as new paradigms for cancer therapeutic targeting. We will continue this research to aid in the discovery of alternative cancer therapeutic targets and seek to understand their structure-function relationship.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2024 - ongoing Associate Professor The University of Adelaide 2021 - ongoing Editor Journal PPAR research 2016 - ongoing Adjunct Professor The Scripps Research Institute 2016 - ongoing Senior Lecturer Level C (Tenured) The University of Adelaide 2016 - ongoing Head of the Laboratory of Protein Crystallography The University of Adelaide 2012 - 2015 Lecturer Level B The University of Adelaide 2007 - 2012 Associate Research Scientist Texas A&M University 2005 - 2007 Post-doctoral Research Associate Scripps Research Institute -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 1998 - 2004 Rice University United States PhD 1994 - 1997 Texas A&M University USA BSc -
Postgraduate Training
Date Title Institution Country 2007 - 2012 Assistant Research Scientist Texas A&M USA 2005 - 2007 Post-doctoral Research Assistant The Scripps Research Institute USA
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Journals
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Book Chapters
Year Citation 2021 Chua, B. S. K., & Bruning, J. B. (2021). PPARα and δ Ligand Design: Honing the Traditional Empirical Method with a More Holistic Overview. In M. Z. Badr (Ed.), Nuclear Receptors: The Art and Science of Modulator Design and Discovery (pp. 111-178). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
DOI2019 Frkic, R., & Bruning, J. (2019). Obtaining crystals of PPARγ ligand binding domain bound to small molecules. In Unknown Book (Vol. 1966, pp. 253-260).
DOI Scopus3 Europe PMC1 -
Conference Papers
Year Citation 2023 Nguyen, S., Jovcevski, B., Truong, J. Q., Pukala, T. L., & Bruning, J. B. (2023). A structural model of the human plasminogen and <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> enolase complex: insights for antifungal drug discovery. In ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA A-FOUNDATION AND ADVANCES Vol. 79 (pp. C706). INT UNION CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 2010 Mosser, R., Reddy, M., Bruning, J., Sacchettini, J. C., & Reinhart, G. D. (2010). Redefining the Role of the Quaternary Shift in the Allosteric Inhibition of Bacillus Stearothermophilus Phosphofructokinase. In BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL Vol. 98 (pp. 39A). CELL PRESS.
DOI2007 Chalmers, M. J., Busby, S. A., Prasad, S., Bruning, J. B., Pascal, B. D., Southern, M. R., & Griffin, P. R. (2007). P97-S A High-Throughput Method for the characterization of Nuclear Receptor Dynamics. In J Biomol Tech. Vol. 18 (pp. 33). Tampa Florida. -
Conference Items
Year Citation 2020 Tavakoli, P., Eadie, L. N., Heatley, S. L., Bruning, J. B., & White, D. L. (2020). Persistent Activation of JAK/STAT Signaling Plays an Important Role in<i>in Vitro</i>Jaki Resistance in <i>TYK2</i>-rearranged B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Poster session presented at the meeting of BLOOD. ELECTR NETWORK: AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY.
DOI2020 Tavakoli, P. S., Eadie, L. N., Heatley, S. L., Bruning, J. B., & White, D. L. (2020). Persistent activation of JAK/STAT signaling plays an important role in in vitro Jaki resistance in TYK2-rearranged B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Poster session presented at the meeting of 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology. San Diego, California (virtual conference). 2020 Downes, C. E. J., McClure, B. J., Rehn, J., Breen, J., Bruning, J. B., Yeung, D. T., & White, D. L. (2020). Acquired Mutations within the JAK2 Kinase Domain Confer Resistance to JAK Inhibitors in an <i>in Vitro</i> model of a High-Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Poster session presented at the meeting of BLOOD. ELECTR NETWORK: AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY.
DOI WoS12018 Downes, C. E., McClure, B. J., Mayne, B. T., Bruning, J. B., Heatley, S. L., Kok, C., . . . White, D. L. (2018). Identification and computational modelling of ruxolitinib resistant mutations in JAK2-rearranged B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Poster session presented at the meeting of APG Student Awards. 2018 Downes, C. E., McClure, B. J., Mayne, B. T., Bruning, J. B., Heatley, S. L., Kok, C., . . . White, D. L. (2018). Identification of ruxolitinib resistance mutations in Pro-B cells driven by a high-risk JAK2 fusion in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Poster session presented at the meeting of ASMR. 2018 Downes, C. E., McClure, B. J., Mayne, B. T., Bruning, J. B., Heatley, S. L., Kok, C., . . . White, D. L. (2018). Identification and Characterisation of Ruxolitinib Resistant Mutations in JAK2-rearranged B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Poster session presented at the meeting of AGTA. 2018 Downes, C. E., McClure, B. J., Mayne, B. T., Bruning, J. B., Heatley, S. L., Kok, C., . . . White, D. L. (2018). Identification of mutations that cause ruxolitinib resistance in Pro-B cells driven by a high-risk B-ALL JAK2-fusion.. Poster session presented at the meeting of ANZCHOG. 2018 Downes, C. E., McClure, B. J., Mayne, B. T., Bruning, J. B., Heatley, S. L., Kok, C., . . . White, D. L. (2018). Identification and computational modelling of ruxolitinib resistant mutations in JAK2-rearranged B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Poster session presented at the meeting of SAHMRI Scientific Seminar. 2018 Downes, C. E., McClure, B. J., Mayne, B. T., Bruning, J. B., Heatley, S. L., Kok, C., . . . White, D. L. (2018). Identification and computational modelling of ruxolitinib resistant mutations in JAK2-rearranged B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Poster session presented at the meeting of EMBL Australia Postgraduate Symposium. -
Original Creative Works
Year Citation 2018 Authors: Wegener K, Mcgrath A, Dixon N, Oakley A, Scanlon D, Abell A, Bruning J. Title: Rational Design of a 310-Helical PIP-Box Mimetic Targeting PCNA, the Human Sliding Clamp [Cover Profile]. Description: N/A. Extent: N/A.
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Preprint
Year Citation 2025 McDougal, D., Pederick, J., Shearwin-Whyatt, L., Grützner, F., & Bruning, J. (2025). Structural evolution of the estrogen receptor regulatory domain.
DOI2025 McDougal, D., Pederick, J., Novick, S., Jovcevski, B., Warrender, A., Pascal, B., . . . Bruning, J. (2025). A ternary switch determines ERα LBD conformation.
DOI2023 Lee, J., Bruning, J., & Bell, S. (2023). In Crystallo Reactions with an Engineered Cytochrome P450 Peroxygenase.
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- ARC DP (2024). DP240101500. A/Prof Stephen Bell ; Prof James De Voss ; A/Prof John Bruning. New biocatalysts for selective chemical oxidations under extreme conditions ($781,608).
- Oracle Research Grant (2023). A/P John Bruning. High throughput protein folding for in-silico characterisation of designed and natural protein.
- ARC DP (2023) DP230100609. A/Prof John Bruning ; Prof Frank Gruetzner ; Prof Patrick Griffin. Structural and molecular studies of endocrine disruption in Australia fauna ($563,171).
- NHMRC Idea Grant (2021). Dr Nichoklas Eyre; Dr Amanda Aloia, Dr Thomas Avery; Dr John Bruning, Dr Tim Chataway. Development and mechanistic analysis of novel inhibitors of the dengue virus NS1 protein ($783,440)
- ARC ITTC (2019). IC190100017. Prof Peter Dowd ; Prof William Skinner ; Prof Frank Neumann ; Prof Stephen Grano ; A/Prof Damith Ranasinghe ; Dr Tien-Fu Lu ; Prof Anton Kepic ; A/Prof Chaoshui Xu ; Prof Nigel Cook ; A/Prof Jixue Liu ; Prof David Lancaster .... Dr John Bruning. ARC Training Centre for Integrated Operations for Complex Resources ($3,703,664)
- ARC LIEF Grant (2014). LE15010023. Michael, Dr. Micahel Z; Booker, A/Prof., Grant W; Venter, Dr. Henrietta; Pitson, Prof. Stuart M; McKinnon, Prof. Ross A; Abell, Prof. Andrew D; Soole, A/Prof. Kathleen L; Sykes, Prof. Pamela J; Bruning, Dr. John B. “High Throughput Screening Facility.” ($860,000).
- Environment Institute Major Collaborative Project (2015). Dr. Frank Reith, Prof. Peter Hoffmann, Dr. Florian Weiland, Dr. Benjamin Wade, Dr. John Bruning. ($50,000).
- Biochemistry Discipline Collaborative Research Grant (2015-2018). Bruning, JB and Booker, GW. “Structural studies of Aspergillus fumigatus enzyme targets for drug discovery.” ($45,000).
- AIB Labs, Research Infrastructure Fund (2015). Parkinson-Lawrence, E., Polyak, S.W., Brooks, D., Booker, G.W., Forbes, B.E., Pitson, S., Cowin, A., Bruning, J., Butler, L. ($12,793).
- IPAS Pilot Projects (2015). Krogsgaard-Larsen, N.; Bruning, J.B.; Luiten, A.; Callen, D.; Zhang, X.Z.; Alaknanda, A. “First Steps toward a Cancer Biosensor.” ($6,000).
- Australian Synchrotron CAP (2013). CAP6919. Hrmova, M. and Bruning, J.B. “X-ray crystal structures of plant and mammalian proteins, and protein design.”
- Australian Synchrotron CAP (2014). CAP8221. Hrmova, M. and Bruning, J.B. “X-ray crystal structures of plant and mammalian proteins, and protein design.”
- BIOCHEM3000 – Molecular and Structural Biology
- BIOCHEM3230 – Molecular and Structural Biology (Biomedical Science)
- BIOCHEM3125 – Advanced Molecular Biology IIIA (Biochemistry)
- BIOCHEM3001 – Cancer, Stem Cells and Development III
- BIOCHEM3235 – Cancer, Stem Cells and Development III (Biomedical Science)
- BIOCHEM3520 – Cancer, Stem Cells and Development (Theory) III
- BIOCHEM3225 – Advanced Molecular Biology IIIB (Biochemistry)
- BIOCHEM2500 – Biochemistry II: Molecular & Cell Biology
- BIOCHEM2502 – Biochemistry II (Biotech): Molecular & Cell Biology
- BIOCHEM2504 – Biochemistry II (Mol Biol): Molecular & Cell Biology
- BIOLOGY1201 – Biology I – Human Perspectives
- CHEMENG 2015 - Principles of Biotechnology II
- BIOTECH7000 – Advanced Research Platforms
- BIOTECH7001 – Drug Discovery and Development
- Science2300 – Principles and Practice of Research
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Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2025 Co-Supervisor Exploring the molecular interplay of highly related tumour suppressor proteins that bind identical DNA motifs Master of Philosophy (Medical Science) Master Full Time Miss Katarina Anastasia Amerl 2025 Co-Supervisor Characterising Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Synthetic Agonists as Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Ligands. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Samuel Luke Wallis 2024 Co-Supervisor Characterization of peroxygenase activity in CYP154 enzymes from the thermophilic bacterium Thermobifida fusca Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Oghenesivwe Osiebe 2024 Principal Supervisor The design of novel peptide mimetics or small molecule inhibitors of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) for the development of broad-spectrum cancer therapeutics. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Dayna Louise Holroyd 2024 Co-Supervisor Innate phagocytosis from a basic feeding behaviour to a regulated defence action Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Wei Da Ho 2024 Principal Supervisor Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) for the Treatment of Androgen Receptor positive (AR+) and Estrogen Receptor Positive (ER+) Breast Cancer. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Manjit Rana 2024 Co-Supervisor Exploration and Exploitation of Novel Thermally Adapted Cytochromes P450 and their Biotechnological Uses Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Delroy Sheng Yu Huang 2024 Co-Supervisor The Study of Cholesterol Oxidizing Enzymes from Actinobacteria Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Gashaw Getaneh Dagnaw 2023 Co-Supervisor Investigation of transcriptional regulators as a novel approach to treat ovarian cancer Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Suet Yee Too 2022 Co-Supervisor Researching the Interaction, Structure and Function of S-Proteins in Almond Doctor of Philosophy under a Jointly-awarded Degree Agreement with Doctorate Full Time Ms Isis Pinner 2021 Principal Supervisor Development and Analysis of Gold Sensing Protein Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Akhil Kumar 2019 Principal Supervisor Structural Mechanisms of Estrogen Receptor Allostery and Endocrine Disruption Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Daniel Patrick McDougal -
Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2020 - 2024 Principal Supervisor Insights into Peptidomimetic Approaches for Inhibiting the DNA Sliding Clamps Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Bethiney Chantel Vandborg 2020 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Development of 2-Aminoquinoline Derivatives with Improved Drug-Like Character as Small Molecule Inhibitors for a Protein-Protein Interaction Domain Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Ellen Lillian Swan 2019 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Targeting PCNA with Cell and Nuclear Permeable p21- derived Peptides Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Theresa Chav 2019 - 2023 Principal Supervisor The structural selectivity and various ligands of PPAR gamma Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Benjamin Soon Kai Chua 2018 - 2021 Principal Supervisor Structural and Biochemical Insights into Antifungal Drug Targets from Aspergillus fumigatus Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Stephanie Nguyen 2018 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Functional and Structural Characterisation of Bacterial ATP-grasp Ligases Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jordan Luke Pederick 2018 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Precision Medicine Approaches for JAK2-Rearranged Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: The Efficacy of Targeted Therapies and Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Resistance Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Charlotte Emma-Jeane Downes 2018 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Approaches to study protein interactions Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Aimee Jade Horsfall 2018 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Structural and Biophysical Characterisation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Dethiobiotin Synthetase Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Andrew Philip Thompson 2018 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Structural and Functional Investigations of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes from Mycobacterium Species Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Hebatalla Ahmed Ibrahim Mohamed 2017 - 2021 Principal Supervisor Understanding PPARg-Ligand Interactions to Treat Type 2 Diabetes Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Rebecca Louise Frkic 2017 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Microbial Biosynthesis of Grapevine Specialised Metabolites Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Emi Kaye Schutz 2016 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Defining the Key Residues in PCNA-Protein Interactions Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Alice Jane Kroker 2016 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K): its relation to cancer cell survival, autophagy and other cell signalling pathways Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Roman Valeryevich Lenchine 2015 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Structural Characterization of Lysogeny-Promoting Transcription Factor of Bacteriophage 186 Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jia Quyen Truong 2014 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Structural and Biochemical Studies on Three Aspergillus fumigatus Proteins That Present as Targets for Novel Antifungal Drugs Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Andrew Craig Marshall 2014 - 2016 Co-Supervisor Molecular and Structural Characterization of the Candidate Enzymes Responsible for Tartaric Acid Synthesis in the Grapevine Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Yong Jia
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