Signaling Pathways To Enhance Potency Of AMPK-targeting Drugs
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$661,966.00
Summary
Sedentary lifestyles and consumption of high energy foods has led to epidemics of obesity-related metabolic diseases that place enormous financial and medical burden on the Australian economy. An attractive drug target to treat these diseases is AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) which functions as both a cellular fuel gauge and co-ordinator of whole-body metabolism. Our goal is to improve AMPK drug potency by identifying novel processes that sensitize AMPK to drugs.
Antibiotic resistance is a looming public health crisis. New antibiotics with new mechanisms of action are desperately needed. The long-term goal of this research is to develop new drugs that disarm bacteria to overcome the problem of antibiotic resistance.
Pore Engineering of Chromatography Membranes for Bioseparation. Protein separation and purification is an essential unit operation in manufacturing processes of therapeutic proteins. The project aims to advance the practical applications of chromatography membrane, an emerging technology for protein separation and purification, by tailoring membrane pore geometry and surface functionality to achieve enhanced separation performance. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge and technique ....Pore Engineering of Chromatography Membranes for Bioseparation. Protein separation and purification is an essential unit operation in manufacturing processes of therapeutic proteins. The project aims to advance the practical applications of chromatography membrane, an emerging technology for protein separation and purification, by tailoring membrane pore geometry and surface functionality to achieve enhanced separation performance. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge and techniques in the fields of reactive polymer synthesis, functional membrane fabrication and application in bioseparation. The innovative membranes developed in the project are able to improve the production capacity of therapeutic protein manufacturing processes, providing significant economic benefits to Australia.Read moreRead less
Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Organic Solvent Separation. Directly addressing the pressing challenge of organic solvent separation faced by numerous industries, the project aims to develop molecular sieve membranes with outstanding selectivity and solvent tolerance by constructing zeolite-carbon mixed matrix membrane via incorporating zeolite nanosheets into carbon materials. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge of nanosheet synthesis, membrane fabrication and selective mole ....Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Organic Solvent Separation. Directly addressing the pressing challenge of organic solvent separation faced by numerous industries, the project aims to develop molecular sieve membranes with outstanding selectivity and solvent tolerance by constructing zeolite-carbon mixed matrix membrane via incorporating zeolite nanosheets into carbon materials. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge of nanosheet synthesis, membrane fabrication and selective molecule transport. The membranes developed in the project have great potentials for improving the production capacity and sustainability of Australian industries, e.g., pharmaceutical manufacturing, bioethanol production and petroleum refining, providing significant economic and environmental benefits to Australia.Read moreRead less
Statistical methods for detection of non-coding RNAs in eukaryote genomes. Understanding how eukaryotic cells work is a major goal of 21st century biology. A crucial step will be to catalogue the functional components of eukaryotic genomes. Australian researchers must be involved in this process at an early stage, in order to maximise commercial opportunities, attract quality researchers and position ourselves for further advances. This project will make major contributions to international effo ....Statistical methods for detection of non-coding RNAs in eukaryote genomes. Understanding how eukaryotic cells work is a major goal of 21st century biology. A crucial step will be to catalogue the functional components of eukaryotic genomes. Australian researchers must be involved in this process at an early stage, in order to maximise commercial opportunities, attract quality researchers and position ourselves for further advances. This project will make major contributions to international efforts in this area, via the development of statistical methods for segmenting genomes, classification of those segments, and study of the resulting classes. In the long term, enhanced understanding of eukaryotic cells will lead to breakthroughs in biology, and to medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural and scientific advances.Read moreRead less
Enhancing wellbeing over the family life course. This project aims to investigate the impact of family life transitions, such as relationship formation and dissolution or births, on wellbeing over the life course. It will do this by analysing data following people over time and will provide information about the negative and positive effects of family transitions for wellbeing, track changes in wellbeing before, during and after transitions, and highlight the intersections of the family life cou ....Enhancing wellbeing over the family life course. This project aims to investigate the impact of family life transitions, such as relationship formation and dissolution or births, on wellbeing over the life course. It will do this by analysing data following people over time and will provide information about the negative and positive effects of family transitions for wellbeing, track changes in wellbeing before, during and after transitions, and highlight the intersections of the family life course with gender, age and socioeconomic status. This will considerably enhance understandings of wellbeing over the family life course, providing insights for targeted policies and interventions to improve health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
A Structural Understanding Of Class B G Protein-coupled Receptor Function
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,289,570.00
Summary
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of cell surface proteins that enable communication from external signals to the inside of cells of the body. Class B GPCRs are a therapeutically important subclass of these receptors and they play crucial roles in bone and energy homeostasis, cardiovascular control and immune response. This grant will uncover fundamental knowledge on how these receptors work, and will enhance future development of therapeutics.
Discovery And Development Of Better Pain Treatments
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$9,613,850.00
Summary
Many forms of pain remain poorly treated, leading to significant quality of life and economic losses. This Program grant will discover and characterise new peptides from cone snails and spiders that modulate specific channels in nerves that are critical to the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Using advanced chemical and structural approaches, promising leads will be optimised for potency and stability and evaluated in disease and pathway-specific models of pain to establish their clini ....Many forms of pain remain poorly treated, leading to significant quality of life and economic losses. This Program grant will discover and characterise new peptides from cone snails and spiders that modulate specific channels in nerves that are critical to the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Using advanced chemical and structural approaches, promising leads will be optimised for potency and stability and evaluated in disease and pathway-specific models of pain to establish their clinical potential.Read moreRead less
Assessing the physiological roles of ubiquitination in regulating neuronal ion channels, receptors and transporters. Significant alterations in the activity neuronal transporters and receptors occur during tissue injury and regeneration as well as in many neurodegenerative disease states. Modulation of the pathways that control these transporters is an emerging therapeutic target, however, the molecular basis of these control mechanisms remain poorly understood. The outcome of this project will ....Assessing the physiological roles of ubiquitination in regulating neuronal ion channels, receptors and transporters. Significant alterations in the activity neuronal transporters and receptors occur during tissue injury and regeneration as well as in many neurodegenerative disease states. Modulation of the pathways that control these transporters is an emerging therapeutic target, however, the molecular basis of these control mechanisms remain poorly understood. The outcome of this project will be a thorough characterisation of a novel regulatory paradigm in neurons that is likely to be crucial for neuronal development and regeneration, and will potentially provide novel therapeutic targets for various neuronal diseases.Read moreRead less
Testing metabolic theories in ecology. There are striking similarities in the way plants and animals take up and use energy (metabolism), despite enormous variation in size and life-style. This project will make the first experimental comparison of the predictions of the two major theories for these broad patterns. The results will significantly progress this controversial and exciting field.