Whole Body Vibration For Osteoporosis: Shaking Up Our Treatment Options
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$961,017.00
Summary
Our aim is to examine the ability of vibration alone and in combination with osteoporosis drugs to reduce hip fracture in postmenopausal women. In Australia, 1 in 2 women >60yrs, will sustain an osteoporotic fracture. Only drugs notably decrease fracture; however none are entirely effective and some patients don’t respond. Whole body vibration has emerged as a potentially effective therapy. A combination of vibration and drugs may enhance the effects of both and revolutionise treatment.
Structural And Functional Analysis Of A Cancer-linked Co-regulator Complex
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$729,571.00
Summary
We seek to understand the mechanisms by which genes are switched on and off throughout our lifetime. A number of multi-component protein machines are involved in this process but their make-up and mechanism of action is not understood. We will investigate the structure and function of one of these machines that has been strongly linked to cancer.
Spinal complaints present the greatest social and economic burden of musculoskeletal conditions in Australia. This reflects current realities: the cause remains unknown; 80% of the population is affected; and isolated professions perform a staggering array of interventions. The CCRE aims to target these realities and improve Australia's capacity to prevent and manage spinal disorders by supporting innovative interdisciplinary research and training. This community- and university-based centre wil ....Spinal complaints present the greatest social and economic burden of musculoskeletal conditions in Australia. This reflects current realities: the cause remains unknown; 80% of the population is affected; and isolated professions perform a staggering array of interventions. The CCRE aims to target these realities and improve Australia's capacity to prevent and manage spinal disorders by supporting innovative interdisciplinary research and training. This community- and university-based centre will align highly successful clinical and basic researchers in collaboration with a national network of spine scientists to foster interdisciplinary clinical researcher training, develop new diagnostics and therapeutics, and translate findings to the community. Through clinical research the centre aims to: (i) Advance understanding of physiology and pathophysiology of spinal pain (ii) Translate findings from basic research to clinical practice (iii) Establish coordinated multidisciplinary research to reduce the burden of spinal pain (iv) Predict and prevent the transition from acute to chronic states (v) Train a new generation of transdisciplinary clinical scientists (vi) Rapidly assess new treatment possibilities in pre-clinical studies (vii) Develop innovative technologies for diagnostics and therapeutics (viii) Encourage Australian commercialisation opportunities for new discoveries (ix) Encourage community-user participation in direction of research programs (x) Disseminate new findings and information of evidence-based practice to patients, clinicians, insurers, government and the scientific and wider communityRead moreRead less
Exploring Scanning Ultrasound (SUS), A Novel Method To Treat And Prevent Neurodegenerative Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$765,708.00
Summary
We developed a novel scanning ultrasound (SUS) protocol that clears toxic protein aggregates and restores memory function in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), without the need for therapeutic agents. Here we aim to determine whether SUS has preventative potential, whether there are synergistic effects, and whether a therapeutic antibody combined with SUS leads to an enhanced therapeutic outcome. Together this will guide the development of an ultrasound therapy in AD patients.
Biosensor Based Clinical-decision Support For Patients With Heart Failure
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$691,933.00
Summary
Heart Failure (HF) is a progressive disease and a major global public health concern. HF accounts for a substantial number of hospitalisations, major healthcare resource utilisation and costs. We aim to engineer biosensor platform to stratify the risk in HF patients will revolutionise current management of HF by providing the cardiologist information to risk stratify patients based on protein signature. This will lead to a substantial paradigm shift in clinical practice.
Polarized Trafficking Of E-cadherin In Epithelial Cells.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$515,564.00
Summary
The cell adhesion protein E-cadherin is expressed in all epithelial tissues of the body where it has essential functions during development and in the adult in establishing and maintaining polarized cell monolayers. E-cadherin is also a vital tumour suppressor, its normal function guarantees that cells or even early tumours cannot metastasise; in contrast E-cadherin is always lost or malfunctions in malignant tumours. Earlier studies showed that E-cadherin is constantly moved, or trafficked, to ....The cell adhesion protein E-cadherin is expressed in all epithelial tissues of the body where it has essential functions during development and in the adult in establishing and maintaining polarized cell monolayers. E-cadherin is also a vital tumour suppressor, its normal function guarantees that cells or even early tumours cannot metastasise; in contrast E-cadherin is always lost or malfunctions in malignant tumours. Earlier studies showed that E-cadherin is constantly moved, or trafficked, to and from the surface of epithelial cells. This trafficking has dual roles, firstly in delivering newly-made E-cadherin to the surface where it functions and secondly, in regulating its adhesive function. Our research in this project is focussed on the molecules and intracellular compartments that control the delivery of E-cadherin to the cell surface. E-cadherin must be sorted in order to be delivered to the correct side of the cell. Having previously discovered the sorting signal in E-cadherin, we will now identify the cognate adaptor protein(s) that accomplish this sorting. New imaging techniques allow us to study protein trafficking inside live cells. Such studies have recently revealed that E-cadherin passes through a recycling endosome compartment on its way to the cell surface. This unexpected route, and the structure and role of the recycling endosome will now be studied in detail in live cells. Finally we will compare the sorting and trafficking of E-cadherin with the closely-related N-cadherin protein, to determine whether there are inherent differences in their trafficking that could explain their opposite roles in tumour cells, where N-cadherin is substituted for E-cadherin and allows metastatic behaviour. These studies will provide important information for understanding the adhesive and tumour suppressive roles of E-cadherin. In addition our findings will generate information fundamental to our understanding of cell polarity and protein sorting.Read moreRead less
EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING OF MALIGNANT BREAST CANCER
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$863,268.00
Summary
Poorly differentiated breast cancers are aggressive tumors, frequently resistant to chemotherapy and associated with high morbidity. Herein we propose the engineering of more selective therapeutic agents able to target the genes involved in cancer initiation and resistance to treatment. We aim to correct and reprogram the cancer cell genome in state that is similar to normal, not tumorigenic cells. This work will generate novel forms of treatment for cancers that are presently not curable.