Staff Profile
Dr Amy Anderson
Senior Research Associate
- Email: amy.anderson@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 2754
- Personal Website: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/medicalsciences/research/groups/musculoskeletal/
- Address: Musculoskeletal Research Group,
Translational and Clinical Research Institute,
Newcastle University,
Room M3.136I, 3rd Floor William Leech Building,
The Medical School,
Framlington Place,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE2 4HH
Introduction
I completed my PhD at Imperial College London identifying host genetic loci responsible for the outcome of Helicobacter pylori infection. After my PhD I remained at Imperial College and worked as a Research Assistant studying seasonal changes in the suppressive capacity of Tregs in hayfever sufferers. I moved to Newcastle University in 2006 as a Research Associate and have been working on the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis ever since. In 2016 I became a Senior Research Associate.
Area of expertise
- Tolerance induction
- Biomarker development and disease pathogenesis in rheumatoid arthritis
Projects
Since coming to Newcastle I have been involved in a number of projects focusing on the development of biomarkers for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, in addition to development of novel immunotherapies for rheumatoid arthritis, with a particular interest in therapeutic tolerance induction.
Biomarker development
In collaboration with Professor John Isaacs and Dr Arthur Pratt, we have identified a potential transcriptional biomarker for the early diagnosis of seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. We have demonstrated that interleukin-6 and downstream STAT3 signalling are potential therapeutic targets in the early stages of clinical disease. We are currently investigating several biomarkers linked to this pathway to determine their diagnostic and theragnostic value in rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, we are investigating several proteins linked to the transcriptional biomarker to further understand the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.
Tolerogenic dendritic cells (AuToDeCRA)
The main project I having been working on, in collaboration with Professor John Isaacs and Dr Catharien Hilkens, is the development of autologous tolerogenic dendritic cells for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. This project culminated in a phase I clinical trial (AuToDeCRA study, funded by Arthritis Research UK). We are now embarking on a second clinical trial using autologous tolerogenic dendritic cells, which is focused on determining the best route of administration.
Rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis (BIO-FLARE)
I am currently involved in a MRC funded Experimental Medicine Challenge grant investigating factors that are involved in disease flare in rheumatoid arthritis. This is a multi-centre grant held between Newcastle University, Glasgow University and the University of Birmingham. At Newcastle, in collaboration with Professor John Isaacs, Dr Arthur Pratt and Dr Catharien Hilkens, we are investigating the immune system contribution to disease flare.
Postgraduate teaching
- I currently supervise/co-supervise 7 PhD students
- I co-supervise MRes students on an annual basis
Undergraduate teaching
- I currently lead a number of seminar sessions for Biomedical Science and Dentistry undergraduate students
- I co-supervise BSc students on an annual basis
- Clark AD, Nair N, Anderson AE, Thalayasingam N, Naamane N, Skelton AJ, Diboll J, Barton A, Eyre S, Isaacs JD, Pratt AG, Reynard LN. Lymphocyte DNA methylation mediates genetic risk at shared immune-mediated disease loci. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2020, 145(5), 1438-1451.
- Anderson AE, Maney NJ, Nair N, Lendrem DW, Skelton AJ, Diboll J, Brown PM, Smith GR, Carmody RJ, Barton A, Isaacs JD, Pratt AG. Expression of STAT3-regulated genes in circulating CD4+ T cells discriminates rheumatoid arthritis independently of clinical parameters in early arthritis. Rheumatology 2019, 58(7), 1250-1258.
- Ridgley LA, Anderson AE, Maney NJ, Naamane N, Skelton AJ, Lawson CA, Emery P, Isaacs JD, Carmody RJ, Pratt AG. IL-6 Mediated Transcriptional Programming of Naïve CD4+ T Cells in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Drives Dysregulated Effector Function. Frontiers in Immunology 2019, 10, 1535.
- Spiering R, Jansen MAA, Wood MJ, Fath AA, Eltherington O, Anderson AE, Pratt AG, van Eden W, Isaacs JD, Broere F, Hilkens CMU. Targeting of tolerogenic dendritic cells to heat-shock proteins in inflammatory arthritis. Journal of Translational Medicine 2019, 17, 375.
- Thalayasingam N, Nair N, Skelton AJ, Massey J, Anderson AE, Clark AD, Diboll J, Lendrem DW, Reynard LN, Cordell HJ, Eyre S, Isaacs JD, Barton A, Pratt AG. CD4+ and B lymphocyte expression quantitative traits at rheumatoid arthritis risk loci in untreated early arthritis: implications for causal gene identification. Arthritis and Rheumatology 2018, 70(3), 361-370.
- Cooles FAH, Anderson AE, Skelton A, Pratt AG, Kurowska-Stolarska MS, McInnes I, Hilkens CMU, Isaacs JD. Phenotypic and transcriptomic analysis of peripheral blood plasmacytoid and conventional dendritic cells in early drug naïve rheumatoid arthritis. Frontiers in Immunology 2018, 9, 755.
- Ridgley LA, Anderson AE, Pratt AG. What are the dominant cytokines in early rheumatoid arthritis?. Current Opinion in Rheumatology 2018, 30(2), 207-214.
- Bell GM, Anderson AE, Diboll J, Reece R, Eltherington O, Harry RA, Fouweather T, MacDonald C, Chadwick T, McColl EM, Dunn J, Dickinson AM, Hilkens CMU, Isaacs JD. Autologous tolerogenic dendritic cells for rheumatoid and inflammatory arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2017, 76(1), 227-234.
- Khamri W, Abeles RD, Hou TZ, Anderson AE, El-Masry A, Triantafyllou E, Bernsmeier C, Larsen FS, Singanayagam A, Kudo N, Possamai LA, Lebosse F, Auzinger G, Bernal W, Willars C, Weston CJ, Lombardi G, Wendon J, Thursz M, Antoniades CG. Increased Expression of Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte−Associated Protein 4 by T Cells, Induced by B7 in Sera, Reduces Adaptive Immunity in Patients With Acute Liver Failure. Gastroenterology 2017, 153(1), 263-276.e8.
- Cooles FAH, Anderson AE, Lendrem DW, Norris J, Pratt AG, Hilkens CMU, Isaacs JD. The interferon gene signature is increased in patients with early treatment-naive rheumatoid arthritis and predicts a poorer response to initial therapy. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2017, 141(1), 445-448.e4.
- Anderson AE, Swan DJ, Wong OY, Buck M, Eltherington O, Harry RA, Patterson AM, Pratt AG, Reynolds G, Doran JP, Kirby JA, Isaacs JD, Hilkens CM. Tolerogenic dendritic cells generated with dexamethasone and vitamin D3 regulate rheumatoid arthritis CD4+ T-cells partly via TGF-β1. Clinical & Experimental Immunology 2017, 187(1), 113-123.
- Pratt AG, Anderson AE, Carmody RJ, Isaacs JD. Bcl-3 in CD4+ T Cell–Mediated Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathogenesis: Comment on the Article by Meguro et al. Arthritis and Rheumatology 2016, 68(3), 770-771.
- McGovern A, Schoenfelder S, Martin P, Massey J, Duffus K, Plant D, Yarwood A, Pratt AG, Anderson AE, Isaacs JD, Diboll J, Thalayasingam N, Ospelt C, Barton A, Worthington J, Fraser P, Eyre S, Orozco G. Capture Hi-C identifies a novel causal gene, IL20RA, in the pan-autoimmune genetic susceptibility region 6q23. Genome Biology 2016, 17, 212.
- Anderson AE, Pratt AG, Sedhom MA, Doran JP, Routledge C, Hargreaves B, Brown PB, LeCao KA, Isaacs JD, Thomas R. IL-6-driven STAT signalling in circulating CD4+ lymphocytes is a marker for early anti-citrullinated peptide antibody-negative rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2016, 75, 466-473.
- Cooles FAH, Anderson AE, Drayton T, Harry RA, Diboll J, Munro L, Thalayasingham N, Ostor AJK, Isaacs JD. Immune reconstitution 20 years after treatment with alemtuzumab in a rheumatoid arthritis cohort: implications for lymphocyte depleting therapies. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2016, 18, 302.
- Lord P, Spiering R, Aguillón JC, Anderson AE, Appel S, Benitez-Ribas D, ten-Brinke A, Broere F, Cools N, Cuturi MC, Diboll J, Geissler EK, Giannoukakis N, Gregori S, van-Ham SM, Lattimer S, Marshall L, Harry RA, Hutchinson JA, Isaacs JD, Joosten I, van-Kooten C, López-Díaz-de-Cerio A, Nikolic T, Barbaros-Oral H, Sofronic-Milosavljevic L, Ritter T, Riquelme P, Thomson AW, Trucco M, Vives-Pi M, Martinez-Caceres E, Hilkens CM. Minimum information about tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells (MITAP): a first step towards reproducibility and standardisation of cellular therapies. PeerJ 2016, 4, 1-14.
- Masca NGD, Hensor EMA, Cornelius VR, Buffa FM, Marriott HM, Eales JM, Messenger MP, Anderson AE, Boot C, Bunce C, Goldin RD, Harris J, Hinchliffe RF, Junaid H, Kingston S, Martin-Ruiz C, Nelson CP, Peacock J, Seed PT, Shinkins B, Staples KJ, Toombs J, Wright AKA, Dawn Teare M. RIPOSTE: a framework for improving the design and analysis of laboratory-based research. eLife 2015, 4(MAY), 1-45.
- Cooles FAH, Anderson AE, Hilkens C, Isaacs JD. The Interferon Gene Signature in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Demonstrates No Significant Association with Disease Activity. In: 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. 2015, San Francisco, CA, USA: Wiley.
- Purvis HA, Anderson AE, Young DA, Isaacs JD, Hilkens CMU. A Negative Feedback Loop Mediated by STAT3 Limits Human Th17 Responses. Journal of Immunology 2014, 193(3), 1142-1150.
- Cooles FA, Isaacs JD, Anderson AE. Treg Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Update. Current Rheumatology Reports 2013, 15(9), 1-9.
- Anderson AE, Lorenzi AR, Pratt A, Wooldridge T, Diboll J, Hilkens CM, Isaacs JD. Immunity 12 years after alemtuzumab in RA: CD5+ B-cell depletion, thymus-dependent T-cell reconstitution and normal vaccine responses. Rheumatology 2012, 51(8), 1397-1406.
- Brodlie M, McKean MC, Johnson GE, Anderson AE, Hilkens CM, Fisher AJ, Corris PA, Lordan JL, Ward C. Raised interleukin-17 is immunolocalised to neutrophils in cystic fibrosis lung disease. European Respiratory Journal 2011, 37(6), 1378-1385.
- Harry RA, Anderson AE, Isaacs JD, Hilkens CM. Generation and characterisation of therapeutic tolerogenic dendritic cells for rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2010, 69(11), 2042-2050.
- Purvis HA, Stoop JN, Mann J, Woods S, Kozijn AE, Hambleton S, Robinson JH, Isaacs JD, Anderson AE, Hilkens CMU. Low-strength T-cell activation promotes Th17 responses. Blood 2010, 116(23), 4829-4837.
- Anderson AE, Swan DJ, Sayers BL, Harry RA, Patterson AM, von Delwig A, Robinson JH, Isaacs JD, Hilkens CM. LPS activation is required for migratory activity and antigen presentation by tolerogenic dendritic cells. Journal of Leukocyte Biology 2009, 85(2), 243-250.
- Vila J, Isaacs JD, Anderson AE. Regulatory T cells and autoimmunity. Current Opinion in Hematology 2009, 16(4), 274-279.
- Anderson AE, Mackerness KJ, Aizen M, Carr VA, Nguyen D, Du Pre F, Durham SR, Robinson DS. Seasonal changes in suppressive capacity of CD4 CD25 T cells from patients with hayfever are allergen-specific and may result in part from expansion of effector T cells among the CD25 population. Clinical & Experimental Allergy 2009, 39(11), 1693-1699.
- Lorenzi A, Morgan TA, Anderson A, Catterall J, Patterson AM, Foster HE, Isaacs JD. Thymic function in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2009, 68(6), 983-900.
- Anderson AE, Sayers BL, Haniffa MA, Swan DJ, Diboll J, Wang XN, Isaacs JD, Hilkens CMU. Differential regulation of naïve and memory CD4+ T cells by alternatively activated dendritic cells. Journal of Leukocyte Biology 2008, 84(1), 124-133.
- Anderson AE, Isaacs JD. Tregs and rheumatoid arthritis. Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa 2008, 33(1), 17-33.
- Anderson AE, Worku ML, Khamri W, Bamford KB, Walker MM, Thursz MR. TLR9 polymorphisms determine murine lymphocyte responses to Helicobacter: Results from a genome-wide scan. European Journal of Immunology 2007, 37(6), 1548-1561.
- Khamri W, Worku ML, Anderson AE, Walker MM, Hawgood S, Reid KBM, Clark HW, Thursz MR. Helicobacter infection in the surfactant protein D-deficient mouse. Helicobacter 2007, 12(2), 112-123.