Investigating The Cellular Response To Iron-Depletion: The Trilogy Of ASK1, Thioredoxin And Ribonucleotide Reductase
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$552,572.00
Summary
Iron is crucial for many essential biological processes. Recently, we demonstrated that iron-depletion can affects important signalling pathways (e.g., JNK and p38) that play important roles in growth arrest and apoptosis. This study is designed to investigate the cellular and molecular effects of iron depletion which currently remains unclear. The research is crucial for understanding: (1) the effects of iron deficiency and (2) for understanding the effects of iron chelators that are used for t ....Iron is crucial for many essential biological processes. Recently, we demonstrated that iron-depletion can affects important signalling pathways (e.g., JNK and p38) that play important roles in growth arrest and apoptosis. This study is designed to investigate the cellular and molecular effects of iron depletion which currently remains unclear. The research is crucial for understanding: (1) the effects of iron deficiency and (2) for understanding the effects of iron chelators that are used for treating various diseases.Read moreRead less
Motor Functioning In Young People With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder – Combined Type: A Three-dimensional Motion Analysis Study.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$477,065.00
Summary
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder –combined type (ADHD-CT) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder with a progressively devastating impact on psychosocial development. The first objective of this study is to use 3D-motion analysis to ‘probe’ the underlying brain dysfunction which characterises ADHD-CT. The second objective of this study is to improve our understanding of the link between movement problems, and (a) injury proneness, and (b) social-communicative problems, in children with AD ....Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder –combined type (ADHD-CT) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder with a progressively devastating impact on psychosocial development. The first objective of this study is to use 3D-motion analysis to ‘probe’ the underlying brain dysfunction which characterises ADHD-CT. The second objective of this study is to improve our understanding of the link between movement problems, and (a) injury proneness, and (b) social-communicative problems, in children with ADHD-CT.Read moreRead less
The Relationship Between Maternal And Infant Dietary Intake Of Fermentable Fibre, Gut Microbiota, Short Chain Fatty Acids And Allergic Disease And Asthma: A Population-derived Birth Cohort Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$871,700.00
Summary
The proposed study will involve the Barwon Infant Study (BIS) cohort of 1074 infants to provide the first systematic investigation of the hypotheses that the epidemic of allergic disease and asthma in many parts of the world relates to the paucity of fermentable fibre in the modern diet, and that the protective effect of fermentable fibre is mediated by changes in the organisms that colonise the gut and the metabolites that they produce.
A Transmission-Blocking Vaccine To Prevent Toxoplasmosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$850,225.00
Summary
Toxoplasma gondii causes a globally important zoonotic disease. It is transmitted by cats, and finds its way into our food chain via infected meat and contaminated water. We have used a unique functional genomics pipeline to discover proteins crucial for reproduction of Toxoplasma in the cat. We will now test combinations of these proteins to immunise cats and prove that we can develop a vaccine that blocks transmission of this highly significant parasitic disease.
Understanding The Role Of The Putative Phospholipid Translocase ATP11c In B Cell Development
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$455,153.00
Summary
The immune system protects humans against recurrent infections with a wide range of pathogens. Formation of antibodies is a crucial element of the immune response. Defects in the production of antibodies can lead to recurrent and often life-threatening infections. This project seeks to understand a genetic defect in mice resulting in an almost complete absence of antibody producing cells, thereby causing a disease that is similar to some forms of human immunodeficiency.
How Does NF-kB2 Regulate Thymic Selection To Prevent Organ-specific Autoimmune Disease?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$787,600.00
Summary
Autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes and thyroiditis arise from defects that cause the immune system to confuse self and non-self. Normally, this distinction is programmed in the thymus. We recently identified the gene that causes a form of autoimmune disease. We also made an important discovery about how the thymus gland regulates self-non-self discrimination. We will build on these two discoveries to gain a precise understanding of how the immune system normally avoids autoimmune disease.
Targeting An Ion Pump In The Malaria Parasite With Multiple Compound Classes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$384,686.00
Summary
Large-scale antimalarial drug screening projects have identified three different classes of compound that kill the malaria parasite at extremely low doses and which hold real promise as next-generation antimalarials. Genetic evidence, as well as preliminary data from our own lab, has led us to the hypothesis that all three compound classes exert their antimalarial effect by blocking a molecular ion pump on the parasite surface. The aim of this study is to test this.
Modeling Human Actin Related Protein 2/3 Complex Subunit 1B (ARPC1B) Deficiency In Mice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$755,005.00
Summary
The actin cytoskeleton forms the structure that not only keeps cells in their normal shape but is also essential for the movement of cells and for interaction between cells. We have recently identified the first patients with an immunodeficiency caused by a defect in a gene called ARPC1B, which plays a crucial role in the regulation of actin. Through the investigation of novel mouse models we will elucidate the pathomechanism underlying the disease of these patients.
Only recently has it emerged that our cells have a built-in backup mechanism that instructs cells to die in extreme cases, such as when viruses have hijacked a cell. A misfiring backup mechanism is thought to underlie a number of human diseases, including inflammatory disease. Our investigation will establish a starting point for the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs.
Epigenetic Programming Of Immune Development In Utero: Role Of The Maternal Environment In The Allergy Epidemic
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$764,463.00
Summary
This study will provide new insights into the development of allergic disease. Specifically, we will explore the hypothesis that allergic disease and other disorders or immune dysregulation occur as a result of gene-environmental interactions in early life, and that these events begin in pregnancy when the developing fetus is still developing and most susceptible to these effects.