Gene Expression Biomarkers Predict Severe Asthma Inflammatory Phenotype, Activation Mechanisms And Treatment Response
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$465,627.00
Summary
Asthma is now recognised to be made up of several disease variants or phenotypes, which are likely to have different underlying causes and mechanisms. We lack understanding of how to identify phenotypes of asthma and how they work, and this is delaying research that will lead to improvements in treatments and patient care. This is particularly important in people with severe disease. This grant will establish a gene test to identify asthma phenotype, and further understand mechanisms and treatme ....Asthma is now recognised to be made up of several disease variants or phenotypes, which are likely to have different underlying causes and mechanisms. We lack understanding of how to identify phenotypes of asthma and how they work, and this is delaying research that will lead to improvements in treatments and patient care. This is particularly important in people with severe disease. This grant will establish a gene test to identify asthma phenotype, and further understand mechanisms and treatment responses.Read moreRead less
National Clinical Centre Of Research Excellence In Severe Asthma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,597,952.00
Summary
Severe Asthma remains a large burden for the Australian community. It does not respond to current management approaches. We will develop and implement a targetted therapy approach to severe asthma that will involve assessment of needs of people with severe asthma, community burden form severe asthma, biomarkers and linked treatment strategies, as well as knowledge transfer tools and training of the health and medical workforce.
Cognitive Enhancement In Schizophrenia Via Selective Oestrogen Receptor Modulator.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$396,380.00
Summary
Cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia is resistant to treatment and related to poor community functioning and quality of life. In spite of the widely appreciated magnitude of the problem, there is still a critical gap in our knowledge concerning treatments to reverse these cognitive deficits. The proposed research is significant because it will clarify the role of hormones and genes in relation to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and it may help patients improve their level of functioning.
Molecular Mechanisms Of Receptor Activation And Signalling
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$571,980.00
Summary
Fundamental to our ability to respond to both immediate and long-term environmental changes and stresses is the coordinated regulation of cellular functions by hormonal and neurotransmitter stimuli. The great majority of such stimuli are sensed by G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), complex glycoprotein molecules on the surface of most cells that selectively bind and are activated by various hormones and neurotransmitters. Although GPCRs are a superfamily of proteins that now compromise several ....Fundamental to our ability to respond to both immediate and long-term environmental changes and stresses is the coordinated regulation of cellular functions by hormonal and neurotransmitter stimuli. The great majority of such stimuli are sensed by G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), complex glycoprotein molecules on the surface of most cells that selectively bind and are activated by various hormones and neurotransmitters. Although GPCRs are a superfamily of proteins that now compromise several hundred distinct but structurally-related members, the molecular mechanisms involved in their activation and, thus, their regulation of vital cellular functions, remains unclear. Based on insights that we have gained from the development and characterisation of several alpha1-adrenergic receptor mutants, we have developed a model of receptor activation. In this application we are proposing to further test and to extend the hypotheses underlying this model. Importantly, the functions regulated by GPCR include vital responses, such as the maintenance of circulatory homeostasis by augmenting heart pump function and by constricting vascular smooth muscle to maintain blood pressure. In addition, disordered cellular regulation by GPCR has been implicated in a wide variety of diseases, including hypertension, congestive heart failure and cardiac hypertrophy. Thus, the studies detailed here to further understand the molecular mechanisms of receptor activation have broad implications for our knowledge of critical physiological control systems, and may lead to novel therapeutic approaches to treat a variety of diseases.Read moreRead less
Developing A New Strategy For Treating Demyelinating Peripheral Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$496,250.00
Summary
Incomplete remyelination is a significant component of the persistent clinical disability of peripheral demyelinating neuropathy, contributing to conduction deficits and the secondary axonal damage. A crucial therapeutic challenge is to identify ways to promote remyelination. This project aims to develop a new strategy and a novel clinically relevant target for treating peripheral demyelinating neuropathy.
Pushing AR Toward Better Outcomes In Breast And Prostate Cancers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$998,754.00
Summary
Breast and prostate cancers kill >6000 Australians each year. These cancers are strikingly similar, both driven by hormone receptors that have ‘gone bad’. Current therapies aim to eradicate the receptors. While often effective, therapeutic resistance is common and results in fatal disease. We aim to develop new, less toxic treatments that switch receptor behaviour from good to bad, without destroying them. This should improve quality of life, while preventing drug resistance and loss of lives ....Breast and prostate cancers kill >6000 Australians each year. These cancers are strikingly similar, both driven by hormone receptors that have ‘gone bad’. Current therapies aim to eradicate the receptors. While often effective, therapeutic resistance is common and results in fatal disease. We aim to develop new, less toxic treatments that switch receptor behaviour from good to bad, without destroying them. This should improve quality of life, while preventing drug resistance and loss of lives.Read moreRead less