Associate Professor Sebastian Furness
Associate Professor

Sebastian Furness

Email: 

Background

Sebastian is an expert on molecular pharmacology of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs - the largest class of cell surface recpetors and major drug targets). His lab has a particular interest in those involved in communication between the gastrointestinal tract and brain (the so-called gut-brain axis). Current foccusses include ghrelin, melanocortin 4, dopamine D2, and cholecystokinin receptors and the lab has also worked on the calcitonin, glucagon-like peptide 1 and other receptors. His lab is interested in answering complelling biological questions relating to physiology and pathophysiology of the gut-brain axis all the way down to the level of the receptor.

Sebastian is from Adelaide and received his BSc(Hons) and PhD. from the University of Adelaide, where he worked on the Aryl Hydrocarbon receptor in the lab of Murray Whitelaw. He then did postdoctoral research on haematopoitic stem cell differentiation in Kelly McNagny’s lab at the Biomedical Research Centre at the University of British Columbia before joining Patrick Sexton to work on G protein-coupled receptors at Monash University .

Sebastian is now an ARC Future Fellow with his own research program in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland. He remains an adjunct member of MIPS DDB as well as CCeMMP.

Sebastian has honours and PhD positions for motivated students who have a strong desire to assume ownership of a project and work independently.

Availability

Associate Professor Sebastian Furness is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Basic pharmacology Biological Sciences Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences Receptors and membrane biology Signal transduction

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Adelaide

Research impacts

Sebastian is active in advocacy for improvements to STEM policy across education, science literacy and research funding, having worked for a number of years with an advisory group to his local federal MP, participated in Pint of Science and writing for The Conversation. He has been involved in commercialisation of some of his work into a startup biotech company (Apop biosciences). His main research focus has been instrumental in shifting the paradigm of how signalling works at G protein-coupled receptors (please see an explainer here), is cited in over 40 patents and has been influential in enabling structural biology approaches to understand the mechanism for activation of G protein-coupled receptors.

Search Professor Sebastian Furness’s works on UQ eSpace

63 works between 2006 and 2025
All (63) Journal Article (57) Book Chapter (2) Conference Publication (3) Other Outputs (1)

21 - 40 of 63 works

2019

Journal Article

The nature of efficacy at G protein-coupled receptors

Zhao, Peishen and Furness, Sebastian G.B. (2019). The nature of efficacy at G protein-coupled receptors. Biochemical Pharmacology, 170 113647, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2019.113647

The nature of efficacy at G protein-coupled receptors

2019

Journal Article

TrkB agonist LM22A-4 increases oligodendroglial populations during myelin repair in the corpus callosum

Nguyen, Huynh T. H., Wood, Rhiannon J., Prawdiuk, Alexa R., Furness, Sebastian G. B., Xiao, Junhua, Murray, Simon S. and Fletcher, Jessica L. (2019). TrkB agonist LM22A-4 increases oligodendroglial populations during myelin repair in the corpus callosum. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 12 205, 1-12. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2019.00205

TrkB agonist LM22A-4 increases oligodendroglial populations during myelin repair in the corpus callosum

2019

Journal Article

Conformational transitions and the activation of heterotrimeric G proteins by G protein-coupled receptors

Draper-Joyce, Christopher and Furness, Sebastian George Barton (2019). Conformational transitions and the activation of heterotrimeric G proteins by G protein-coupled receptors. ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science, 2 (4), 285-290. doi: 10.1021/acsptsci.9b00054

Conformational transitions and the activation of heterotrimeric G proteins by G protein-coupled receptors

2019

Journal Article

Deconvoluting the molecular control of binding and signaling at the amylin 3 receptor: RAMP3 alters signal propagation through extracellular loops of the calcitonin receptor

Pham, Vi, Zhu, Yue, Dal Maso, Emma, Reynolds, Christopher A., Deganutti, Giuseppe, Atanasio, Silvia, Hick, Caroline A., Yang, Dehua, Christopoulos, Arthur, Hay, Debbie L., Furness, Sebastian G. B., Wang, Ming-Wei, Wootten, Denise and Sexton, Patrick M. (2019). Deconvoluting the molecular control of binding and signaling at the amylin 3 receptor: RAMP3 alters signal propagation through extracellular loops of the calcitonin receptor. ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science, 2 (3), 183-197. doi: 10.1021/acsptsci.9b00010

Deconvoluting the molecular control of binding and signaling at the amylin 3 receptor: RAMP3 alters signal propagation through extracellular loops of the calcitonin receptor

2019

Journal Article

Expression and activity of the calcitonin receptor family in a sample of primary human high-grade gliomas

Ostrovskaya, Anna, Hick, Caroline, Hutchinson, Dana S., Stringer, Brett W., Wookey, Peter J., Wootten, Denise, Sexton, Patrick M. and Furness, Sebastian G.B. (2019). Expression and activity of the calcitonin receptor family in a sample of primary human high-grade gliomas. BMC Cancer, 19 (1) 157, 157. doi: 10.1186/s12885-019-5369-y

Expression and activity of the calcitonin receptor family in a sample of primary human high-grade gliomas

2019

Journal Article

The molecular control of calcitonin receptor signaling

dal Maso, Emma, Glukhova, Alisa, Zhu, Yue, Garcia-Nafria, Javier, Tate, Christopher G., Atanasio, Silvia, Reynolds, Christopher A., Ramírez-Aportela, Erney, Carazo, Jose-Maria, Hick, Caroline A., Furness, Sebastian G. B., Hay, Debbie L., Liang, Yi-Lynn, Miller, Laurence J., Christopoulos, Arthur, Wang, Ming-Wei, Wootten, Denise and Sexton, Patrick M. (2019). The molecular control of calcitonin receptor signaling. ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science, 2 (1), 31-51. doi: 10.1021/acsptsci.8b00056

The molecular control of calcitonin receptor signaling

2018

Journal Article

Differential engagement of polar networks in the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor by endogenous variants of the glucagon-like peptide 1

Furness, S. G. B., Christopoulos, A., Sexton, P. M. and Wootten, D. (2018). Differential engagement of polar networks in the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor by endogenous variants of the glucagon-like peptide 1. Biochemical Pharmacology, 156, 223-240. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2018.08.033

Differential engagement of polar networks in the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor by endogenous variants of the glucagon-like peptide 1

2018

Journal Article

Dominant negative G proteins enhance formation and purification of agonist-GPCR-G protein complexes for structure determination

Liang, Yi-Lynn, Zhao, Peishen, Draper-Joyce, Christopher, Baltos, Jo-Anne, Glukhova, Alisa, Truong, Tin T., May, Lauren T., Christopoulos, Arthur, Wootten, Denise, Sexton, Patrick M. and Furness, Sebastian G. B. (2018). Dominant negative G proteins enhance formation and purification of agonist-GPCR-G protein complexes for structure determination. ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science, 1 (1), 12-20. doi: 10.1021/acsptsci.8b00017

Dominant negative G proteins enhance formation and purification of agonist-GPCR-G protein complexes for structure determination

2018

Journal Article

Structure of the adenosine-bound human adenosine A1 receptor–Gi complex

Draper-Joyce, Christopher J., Khoshouei, Maryam, Thal, David M., Liang, Yi-Lynn, Nguyen, Anh T. N., Furness, Sebastian G. B., Venugopal, Hariprasad, Baltos, Jo-Anne, Plitzko, Jürgen M., Danev, Radostin, Baumeister, Wolfgang, May, Lauren T., Wootten, Denise, Sexton, Patrick M., Glukhova, Alisa and Christopoulos, Arthur (2018). Structure of the adenosine-bound human adenosine A1 receptor–Gi complex. Nature, 558 (7711), 559-563. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0236-6

Structure of the adenosine-bound human adenosine A1 receptor–Gi complex

2018

Journal Article

Extracellular loops 2 and 3 of the calcitonin receptor selectively modify agonist binding and efficacy

Dal Maso, Emma, Zhu, Yue, Pham, Vi, Reynolds, Christopher A., Deganutti, Giuseppe, Hick, Caroline A., Yang, Dehua, Christopoulos, Arthur, Hay, Debbie L., Wang, Ming-Wei, Sexton, Patrick M., Furness, Sebastian G.B. and Wootten, Denise (2018). Extracellular loops 2 and 3 of the calcitonin receptor selectively modify agonist binding and efficacy. Biochemical Pharmacology, 150, 214-244. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2018.02.005

Extracellular loops 2 and 3 of the calcitonin receptor selectively modify agonist binding and efficacy

2018

Journal Article

Phase-plate cryo-EM structure of a biased agonist-bound human GLP-1 receptor–Gs complex

Liang, Yi-Lynn, Khoshouei, Maryam, Glukhova, Alisa, Furness, Sebastian G. B., Zhao, Peishen, Clydesdale, Lachlan, Koole, Cassandra, Truong, Tin T., Thal, David M., Lei, Saifei, Radjainia, Mazdak, Danev, Radostin, Baumeister, Wolfgang, Wang, Ming-Wei, Miller, Laurence J., Christopoulos, Arthur, Sexton, Patrick M. and Wootten, Denise (2018). Phase-plate cryo-EM structure of a biased agonist-bound human GLP-1 receptor–Gs complex. Nature, 555 (7694), 121-125. doi: 10.1038/nature25773

Phase-plate cryo-EM structure of a biased agonist-bound human GLP-1 receptor–Gs complex

2018

Journal Article

Characterization of signalling and regulation of common calcitonin receptor splice variants and polymorphisms

Dal Maso, Emma, Just, Rasmus, Hick, Caroline, Christopoulos, Arthur, Sexton, Patrick M., Wootten, Denise and Furness, Sebastian G.B. (2018). Characterization of signalling and regulation of common calcitonin receptor splice variants and polymorphisms. Biochemical Pharmacology, 148, 111-129. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2017.12.016

Characterization of signalling and regulation of common calcitonin receptor splice variants and polymorphisms

2017

Journal Article

Coding GPCR-G protein specificity

Furness, Sebastian G.B. and Sexton, Patrick M. (2017). Coding GPCR-G protein specificity. Cell Research, 27 (10), 1193-1194. doi: 10.1038/cr.2017.92

Coding GPCR-G protein specificity

2017

Journal Article

Dianthin-30 or gelonin versus monomethyl auristatin E, each configured with an anti-calcitonin receptor antibody, are differentially potent in vitro in high-grade glioma cell lines derived from glioblastoma

Gilabert-Oriol, Roger, Furness, Sebastian G. B., Stringer, Brett W., Weng, Alexander, Fuchs, Hendrik, Day, Bryan W., Kourakis, Angela, Boyd, Andrew W., Hare, David L., Thakur, Mayank, Johns, Terrance G. and Wookey, Peter J. (2017). Dianthin-30 or gelonin versus monomethyl auristatin E, each configured with an anti-calcitonin receptor antibody, are differentially potent in vitro in high-grade glioma cell lines derived from glioblastoma. Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy, 66 (9), 1217-1228. doi: 10.1007/s00262-017-2013-z

Dianthin-30 or gelonin versus monomethyl auristatin E, each configured with an anti-calcitonin receptor antibody, are differentially potent in vitro in high-grade glioma cell lines derived from glioblastoma

2017

Journal Article

Phase-plate cryo-EM structure of a class B GPCR-G-protein complex

Liang, Yi-Lynn, Khoshouei, Maryam, Radjainia, Mazdak, Zhang, Yan, Glukhova, Alisa, Tarrasch, Jeffrey, Thal, David M., Furness, Sebastian G. B., Christopoulos, George, Coudrat, Thomas, Danev, Radostin, Baumeister, Wolfgang, Miller, Laurence J., Christopoulos, Arthur, Kobilka, Brian K., Wootten, Denise, Skiniotis, Georgios and Sexton, Patrick M. (2017). Phase-plate cryo-EM structure of a class B GPCR-G-protein complex. Nature, 546 (7656), 118-123. doi: 10.1038/nature22327

Phase-plate cryo-EM structure of a class B GPCR-G-protein complex

2017

Journal Article

What determines the magnitude of cellular response for activation of G protein-coupled receptors?

Furness, Sebastian G. B., Wootten, Denise and Sexton, Patrick M (2017). What determines the magnitude of cellular response for activation of G protein-coupled receptors?. Cell Cycle, 16 (5), 392-394. doi: 10.1080/15384101.2016.1271634

What determines the magnitude of cellular response for activation of G protein-coupled receptors?

2017

Book Chapter

Calcitonin

Ostrovskaya, A., Findlay, D. M., Sexton, P. M. and Furness, S. G. B. (2017). Calcitonin. Reference module in neuroscience and biobehavioral psychology. (pp. - ) Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-809324-5.03223-5

Calcitonin

2016

Journal Article

Ligand-dependent modulation of G protein conformation alters drug efficacy

Furness, Sebastian George Barton, Liang, Yi-Lynn, Nowell, Cameron James, Halls, Michelle Louise, Wookey, Peter John, Dal Maso, Emma, Inoue, Asuka, Christopoulos, Arthur, Wootten, Denise and Sexton, Patrick Michael (2016). Ligand-dependent modulation of G protein conformation alters drug efficacy. Cell, 167 (3), 739-749. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.09.021

Ligand-dependent modulation of G protein conformation alters drug efficacy

2016

Journal Article

Key interactions by conserved polar amino acids located at the transmembrane helical boundaries in Class B GPCRs modulate activation, effector specificity and biased signalling in the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor

Wootten, Denise, Reynolds, Christopher A., Smith, Kevin J., Mobarec, Juan C., Furness, Sebastian G. B., Miller, Laurence J., Christopoulos, Arthur and Sexton, Patrick M. (2016). Key interactions by conserved polar amino acids located at the transmembrane helical boundaries in Class B GPCRs modulate activation, effector specificity and biased signalling in the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor. Biochemical Pharmacology, 118, 68-87. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2016.08.015

Key interactions by conserved polar amino acids located at the transmembrane helical boundaries in Class B GPCRs modulate activation, effector specificity and biased signalling in the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor

2016

Journal Article

The extracellular surface of the GLP-1 receptor is a molecular trigger for biased agonism

Wootten, Denise, Reynolds, Christopher A, Smith, Kevin J, Mobarec, Juan C, Koole, Cassandra, Savage, Emilia E, Pabreja, Kavita, Simms, John, Sridhar, Rohan, Furness, Sebastian G B, Liu, Mengjie, Thompson, Philip E, Miller, Laurence J, Christopoulos, Arthur and Sexton, Patrick M (2016). The extracellular surface of the GLP-1 receptor is a molecular trigger for biased agonism. Cell, 165 (7), 1632-1643. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.05.023

The extracellular surface of the GLP-1 receptor is a molecular trigger for biased agonism

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2028
    Solving a major complication of Parkinson's Disease: targeting debilitating constipation through novel pharmacology
    United States Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs - Parkinson's Research Program
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2026
    Beyond structure - solving conformational dynamics for intractable proteins
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2025
    A new frontier in receptor biology relevant to treatment of disease
    NHMRC IDEAS Grants
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2021 - 2023
    The molecular basis for efficacy at G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs)
    ARC Future Fellowships
    Open grant

Availability

Associate Professor Sebastian Furness is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Conformational Basis of MC4 Receptor Function and Regulation

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Farhad Dehkhoda

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the molecular basis for cholesterol dependent modulation of G protein-coupled receptor signalling

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Farhad Dehkhoda

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the molecular basis for cholesterol dependent modulation of G protein-coupled receptor signalling

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Farhad Dehkhoda

  • Doctor Philosophy

    New approaches to measuring single-molecule protein dynamics

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Farhad Dehkhoda

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the molecular basis for cholesterol dependent modulation of G protein-coupled receptor signalling

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Farhad Dehkhoda

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Ghrelin receptor modulation of GPCR signalling

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Farhad Dehkhoda

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Conformational Basis of MC4 Receptor Function and Regulation

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Farhad Dehkhoda

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Associate Professor Sebastian Furness directly for media enquiries about:

  • Anti-obesity medications
  • Diabetes
  • Discovery Research
  • Obesity
  • Science Funding

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au