The recirculation of myeloid dendritic cells. This project aims to understand dendritic cell recirculation. It will use virological tools to track dendritic cell migration, and identify key decision points. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity in basic research and greater interdisciplinary collaboration between virology and immunology research groups. Significant benefits will include a new understanding of how G protein coupled receptor signalling and other tissue cues guide dendritic c ....The recirculation of myeloid dendritic cells. This project aims to understand dendritic cell recirculation. It will use virological tools to track dendritic cell migration, and identify key decision points. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity in basic research and greater interdisciplinary collaboration between virology and immunology research groups. Significant benefits will include a new understanding of how G protein coupled receptor signalling and other tissue cues guide dendritic cell recirculation, and what consequences the recirculation has for immune cell function. This understanding will significantly advance our basic understanding of the immune system.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the secrets of metabolic variation in a highly diverse bacterium. This project aims to explore metabolic diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium relevant to the agricultural, veterinary, medical and biotechnology industries. It is expected to reveal significant insights into the biology of this diverse organism via an innovative combination of DNA sequence analyses and metabolic modelling. Expected outcomes include 4500 novel metabolic models and a novel population metabolic fr ....Unlocking the secrets of metabolic variation in a highly diverse bacterium. This project aims to explore metabolic diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium relevant to the agricultural, veterinary, medical and biotechnology industries. It is expected to reveal significant insights into the biology of this diverse organism via an innovative combination of DNA sequence analyses and metabolic modelling. Expected outcomes include 4500 novel metabolic models and a novel population metabolic framework. This should provide major benefits for understanding bacterial ecology and evolution, and for future studies seeking to optimise industrial processes or prevent disease. It will also directly contribute to building Australia’s capacity in computational biology- a key driver of biotechnology innovation.Read moreRead less
Empirical and computational solutions for multi-omics single-cell assays. Emerging single-cell sequencing technologies are transforming molecular cell biology, but identifying novel cell types and their functions requires the integration of highly heterogeneous data. The development of computational methods able to extract biologically relevant results is hindered by the lack of high-quality datasets. This project aims to develop novel sequencing methodologies and generate data to drive our dime ....Empirical and computational solutions for multi-omics single-cell assays. Emerging single-cell sequencing technologies are transforming molecular cell biology, but identifying novel cell types and their functions requires the integration of highly heterogeneous data. The development of computational methods able to extract biologically relevant results is hindered by the lack of high-quality datasets. This project aims to develop novel sequencing methodologies and generate data to drive our dimension reduction multivariate method developments for data integration. By combining in silico and in vivo approaches, the project is anticipated to benefit scientists willing to work in cutting-edge single-cell research by providing useful protocols and tools to generate novel insights in cell biology. Read moreRead less
Systems-level characterization of scaffold protein signalling networks. The PEAK family of cell signalling scaffolds regulate cellular responses critical for normal development and physiology. This project will adopt a ‘holistic’ approach to characterizing their mechanism and function, integrating experimental and mathematical approaches and developing predictive computational models. It aims to generate fundamental new knowledge in cell, computational and synthetic biology with broad relevance ....Systems-level characterization of scaffold protein signalling networks. The PEAK family of cell signalling scaffolds regulate cellular responses critical for normal development and physiology. This project will adopt a ‘holistic’ approach to characterizing their mechanism and function, integrating experimental and mathematical approaches and developing predictive computational models. It aims to generate fundamental new knowledge in cell, computational and synthetic biology with broad relevance that will foster establishment of new international linkages. This research will also identify strategies for engineering novel scaffolds that re-program cellular behaviour towards specific, applied outcomes, with potential benefit for the fields of synthetic biology, bioengineering and biotechnology.Read moreRead less
Defining the molecular switches that govern discrete cellular fates. This project aims to elucidate how mammalian cells exploit the same molecular machinery to perform completely distinct jobs. While the repurposing of proteins by cells seems widespread, the mechanisms by which this occurs remains largely undefined. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of cell signalling and systems biology, with important implications for many multi-functional proteins. It will utilise a h ....Defining the molecular switches that govern discrete cellular fates. This project aims to elucidate how mammalian cells exploit the same molecular machinery to perform completely distinct jobs. While the repurposing of proteins by cells seems widespread, the mechanisms by which this occurs remains largely undefined. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of cell signalling and systems biology, with important implications for many multi-functional proteins. It will utilise a highly innovative and interdisciplinary approach that tightly integrates mathematical modelling and biological experiments. The expected outcomes will aid strategies for reprogramming cells towards a desired phenotype, which will bring significant benefits to the fields of synthetic biology and bioengineering.Read moreRead less
Characterization of the dark metabolome of eukaryotic cells. The project aims to investigate the full metabolic potential of a group of eukaryotic organisms using advanced analytical and computational techniques. It will identify novel metabolites and enzyme activities that are currently not predicted from genome annotations. Expected outcomes of the project include the delineation of new metabolic processes that are common to all eukaryotes, the characterization of new enzymes families, and the ....Characterization of the dark metabolome of eukaryotic cells. The project aims to investigate the full metabolic potential of a group of eukaryotic organisms using advanced analytical and computational techniques. It will identify novel metabolites and enzyme activities that are currently not predicted from genome annotations. Expected outcomes of the project include the delineation of new metabolic processes that are common to all eukaryotes, the characterization of new enzymes families, and the generation of comprehensive metabolic databases. An improved understanding of cellular metabolism will provide direct benefits in biotechnology, food production, environmental monitoring and the diagnosis and treatment of human metabolic and infectious diseases. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100965
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$444,582.00
Summary
Understanding nutritional interactions for targeted microbiome manipulation. This project aims to identify how microbial communities, known as microbiomes, can be effectively manipulated to the benefit of their host. Microbiome manipulation has been in the spotlight as a potential solution to maintain or improve the health of several hosts, from threatened coral species to livestock and humans, but the development of industry-scale strategies has been slow. This project proposes to chart the nut ....Understanding nutritional interactions for targeted microbiome manipulation. This project aims to identify how microbial communities, known as microbiomes, can be effectively manipulated to the benefit of their host. Microbiome manipulation has been in the spotlight as a potential solution to maintain or improve the health of several hosts, from threatened coral species to livestock and humans, but the development of industry-scale strategies has been slow. This project proposes to chart the nutritional interactions among microorganisms and to identify cascade effects of microbiome manipulation. This will generate fundamental knowledge on the biological processes underlying community stability and malleability, which will ultimately help engineering optimised microbiomes.Read moreRead less
Phylodynamics for Single Cell Genomics . This project generates the mathematical framework required to look at single cell data in developmental systems and tissues. All cells in a multi-cellular organism derive from a single ancestral cell, generally the fertilised egg cell. Phylodynamics provides a framework to analyse and model this data, by connecting the shared ancestry of cells in an organism to the cell population and tissue dynamics. By developing the mathematical and statistical foundat ....Phylodynamics for Single Cell Genomics . This project generates the mathematical framework required to look at single cell data in developmental systems and tissues. All cells in a multi-cellular organism derive from a single ancestral cell, generally the fertilised egg cell. Phylodynamics provides a framework to analyse and model this data, by connecting the shared ancestry of cells in an organism to the cell population and tissue dynamics. By developing the mathematical and statistical foundations for the analysis of single cell data in a phylodynamic framework we will establish a powerful new computational tools for the analysis of tissues and developmental processes. Read moreRead less
Mathematical Modelling of the Mechanobiology of Arterial Plaque Growth. Plaque growth is a chronic inflammatory response induced by the interactions between endothelial cells, lipids, monocytes/macrophages, smooth muscle cells and platelets in the arteries. It involves many different biological processes, such as lipid deposition, inflammation and angiogenesis, and their interactions with the microcirculation. To understand the underlying mechanobiology, we propose to develop a mathematical mode ....Mathematical Modelling of the Mechanobiology of Arterial Plaque Growth. Plaque growth is a chronic inflammatory response induced by the interactions between endothelial cells, lipids, monocytes/macrophages, smooth muscle cells and platelets in the arteries. It involves many different biological processes, such as lipid deposition, inflammation and angiogenesis, and their interactions with the microcirculation. To understand the underlying mechanobiology, we propose to develop a mathematical model to interpret plaque growth by integrating these dynamic biological processes. It will offer a systematic rational understanding of plaque growth. New models will be provided to better interpret biological data and contribute to our knowledge in quantifying complex biological mechanisms during growth and development.Read moreRead less
Lifespan-dependent molecular shaping of the T cell receptor repertoire. Mammals have an intricate and highly complex immune system, whose function alters throughout life. Why and how this occurs is very unclear however, yet remains a crucial question. This project aims to provide fundamental knowledge on how the human lifespan shapes specific T cell receptors and determine molecular mechanisms underlying gain-of-function and loss-of-function during immunologically distinct phases of life. This p ....Lifespan-dependent molecular shaping of the T cell receptor repertoire. Mammals have an intricate and highly complex immune system, whose function alters throughout life. Why and how this occurs is very unclear however, yet remains a crucial question. This project aims to provide fundamental knowledge on how the human lifespan shapes specific T cell receptors and determine molecular mechanisms underlying gain-of-function and loss-of-function during immunologically distinct phases of life. This project will provide analysis of multi-dimensional, high throughput datasets to identify fundamental links between the transcriptional landscape and TCR signatures across human lifespan, thus will significantly answer key immunological questions in the field.Read moreRead less