Controlling Neuroinflammation In Alzheimers Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$639,577.00
Summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide, with 269,000 Australians currently diagnosed with AD and is expected to soar to about 981,000 by 2050. AD accounts for greater than 60% of all cases of dementia. This grant investigates the role that neuroinflammation plays in the progression and exacerbation of AD and will identify new therapeutic strategies to combat this insidious disease.
Understanding Neuroinflammation In Alzheimer's Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,043,216.00
Summary
This project opens a new line of enquiry into the cellular signalling mechanisms involved in the progression of AD and establishes whether targeting the involvement of type-1 IFN signalling influences the evolution of AD. New and novel approaches are clearly required to treat AD. Importantly, we believe that neuroinflammation is common to all causes of dementia and targeting the neuroinflammatory pathways has much wider implications than targeting the primary causative pathway.
Targeting Cytokine Signalling In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$917,626.00
Summary
Systemic lupus erythematosus is a disease where the immune system attacks normally healthy tissues. The spontaneous overproduction of signalling molecules called interferons in lupus plays an important role in the severity of the disease. We have found that two proteins, named Bcl6 and PLZF, are important in controlling the interferon response in lupus patients. We propose that identifying how these proteins act to control interferon will aid in developing new treatments for lupus.
Controlling Life And Death Of Dendritic Cell Subsets For Immunomodulation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$639,577.00
Summary
Dendritic cells are pivotal in orchestrating immune responses; for example, they can turn immune cells into assassins to kill virus infections. Their function is so diverse that different dendritic cells do different jobs. There are many genes that control life and death of cells but those that are important for each specialised dendritic cell have not been comprehensively studied. Drugs that affect the proteins made by such genes selectively may be a new way of controlling immune responses.
The Cell Death Mechanisms That Control Regulatory T Cell Homeostasis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$583,782.00
Summary
A central question in immunology is how to prevent destructive immune responses (e.g. autoimmune disease) and initiate productive immune responses (e.g. against cancer). A major breakthrough in this area was the discovery of special immune cells, called a Regulatory T Cells. We propose to discover the genes that determine whether these cells live and die. We will use this information to control appropriate numbers and function of Regulatory T Cells to modify the immune system.
Targeting RCAN1 To Treat Type 2 Diabetes And Obesity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$814,468.00
Summary
Obesity and impaired insulin secretion are significant contributors to Type 2 diabetes. In this project we demonstrate that a protein called RCAN1 contributes to both fat mass and insulin secretion and that this contribution is exacerbated in obesity and in Type 2 diabetes. We will identify how RCAN1 controls these major metabolic pathways with outcomes including the development of new therapeutics for obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
De Novo Mutations And The Pathogenesis Of Childhood-onset Autoimmune Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,406,510.00
Summary
This project aims to reveal the gene abnormalities that cause devastating autoimmune diseases to develop in some children, such as Type 1 diabetes, juvenile arthritis and autoimmune destruction of blood cells. The project will use new technologies to identify alterations in the DNA sequence of a child compared to either of their parents, and to test suspicious DNA alterations in laboratory mice in order to understand the gene effects and evaluate new treatments.
Epigenetic Determinants Of Nephropathy In Adults With Type 1 Diabetes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$532,118.00
Summary
The prevention and successful management of diabetic complications are issues of utmost importance for the health of Australians. We hypothesize that epigenetic pathways partly determine why some individuals with diabetes develop complications of their disease, while others do not, despite a similar duration of diabetes, treatment intensity and mean glucose exposure.