Improving Treatment Strategies For Chronic Alphaviral Arthritic Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$643,624.00
Summary
Chikungunya virus and Ross River virus cause epidemics of acute and chronic arthritic disease in humans, which is often poorly managed with current treatments. This grant seeks to understand the mechanisms that give rise to disease in order to identify improved treatment strategies. Both the persistence of viral replication in joint tissues and unnecessary inflammatory responses appear to be important factors driving chronic disease.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus Matrix Protein-Host Protein Interactions As Targets For Therapeutics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$686,885.00
Summary
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes more deaths in winter than influenza, being the major cause of viral pneumonia in infants worldwide, and a potent lower respiratory pathogen in the elderly and immunosuppressed adults. The present proposal will apply a range of techniques to search for new inhibitors of viral infection which target host-virus interactions, as the first step towards new generation anti-viral agents to treat RSV infection.
Even in well-resourced countries, the ability to continue treating HIV patients for their lifetime may become unaffordable, which has focused attention on developing a cure for HIV. We have exploited unique insights into a pathway for Tat expression from latent HIV to identify novel compounds that target HIV latency. This project assembles a multidisciplinary team to optimize the lead compounds, and develop novel drug regimens to fast-track into clinical development as a HIV-curative therapy.
EEF1A1 Is Critical For HIV-1 Reverse Transcription And Replication
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$521,429.00
Summary
The project will investigate interaction between the AIDS virus, HIV-1, and the human cell it grows in specifically focusing on a human protein called eEF1A. Our research shows eEF1A is required for HIV-1 growth by regulating a step in the virus life cycle called reverse transcription. The goal of this project is investigate how interaction with eEF1A helps HIV-1 reverse transcription and to find drugs that block HIV-1 interaction with eEF1A.
Inhibition Of Interferon-alpah-beta By Chikungunya Virus And The Induction Of Arthritis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$709,193.00
Summary
Chikungunya virus is a mosquito borne virus which has caused epidemics of arthritis around the world (recently 260,000 people Reunion Island, France and 1.6 million people in India). The virus is ordinarily very sensitive to the main mammalian anti-viral defence system (interferon alpha-beta). This grant seeks to understand how, despite the activation of this system during infection, the virus manages to persist and cause 3-6 months of debilitating arthritis.
Dengue virus is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease, with 2/3 of the world's population at risk. There is currently no treatment available for dengue. Our proposal aims to progress a safe and effective new treatment (4-HPR) against Dengue towards the clinic, generating all the required pharmacokinetic and pre-clinical animal data necessary to progress to a future clinical trial in humans. We will also investigate the use of 4-HPR as a dengue preventative.
Host Cell Signalling During HTLV-1 Infection: Novel Insights And Interventions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$62,335.00
Summary
Human T-leukemia virus 1 (HTLV-1) establishes a life-long infection and causes cancer and immune dysfunction. This study aims to find a cure for HTLV-1 by inducing the specific death of infected cells using novel therapeutic drugs that target host cell death pathways. Dead infected cells are then naturally cleared from the system along with the viral infection. The impact of HTLV-1 infection on tuberculosis severity will also be examined.
Targeting Novel Sites On Reverse Transcriptase For HIV Treatment And Prevention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$978,994.00
Summary
HIV/AIDS remains a major global threat with 37 million individuals living with HIV in 2014. Antiretroviral drugs have transformed HIV from a death sentence into a chronic disease. Public health organisations recommend dramatic scale up of drugs for HIV treatment and prevention. However, a major threat is that drug options will be exhausted due to drug resistance and toxicity. The major aim of this study is to undertake fundamental studies to advance the development of a new HIV drug class.
Hepatitis C virus is a major medical problem in Australia and many other parts of the world. The viruses causes a persistent infection in most infected individuals that results in serious liver disease and liver cancer in a proportion of patients. Treatment is only possible for a small percentage of patients and many patients are infected with viruses which are resistant to the best contemporary treatment regimens. The aim of this project is to develop systems which will result in the assembly o ....Hepatitis C virus is a major medical problem in Australia and many other parts of the world. The viruses causes a persistent infection in most infected individuals that results in serious liver disease and liver cancer in a proportion of patients. Treatment is only possible for a small percentage of patients and many patients are infected with viruses which are resistant to the best contemporary treatment regimens. The aim of this project is to develop systems which will result in the assembly of virus particles which can be used to examine the efficacy of potential antiviral agents, either in the test tube or by infecting an animal model. In particular, we will examine the contribution of a small viral protein, p7, on virus assembly and secretion from the infected cell. Recent data suggests that p7 can function to help release virus from the infected cell and a number of inhibitors of p7 function have been described. We will then use the systems which we develop to determine if these inhibitors can inhibit virus replication in the test tube and in animal models.Read moreRead less