Immunological Prevention Of Cysticercosis And Hydatid Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$445,109.00
Summary
Cysticercosis and hydatid disease are caused by infections with the larval stages of tapeworm parasites. They are zoonotic diseases, transmitted to humans from animals. This project aims to develop practical vaccines to assist with the prevention of these diseases in humans. We will vaccinate the parasites' natural animal hosts and, thereby, break the parasite life-cycles, indirectly and inexpensively preventing the diseases being passed to humans.
Immunological Prevention Of Cysticercosis And Hydatid Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$510,000.00
Summary
Cysticercosis and hydatid disease are caused by infections with the larval stages of tapeworm parasites. These infections cause substantial morbidity and mortality throughout the world, but particularly in developing countries. They are zoonotic diseases, being transmitted to humans from animals. This project aims to develop practical vaccines to assist with the prevention of both cysticercosis and hydatid disease in humans. The vaccines will be used in the parasites' natural animal hosts, there ....Cysticercosis and hydatid disease are caused by infections with the larval stages of tapeworm parasites. These infections cause substantial morbidity and mortality throughout the world, but particularly in developing countries. They are zoonotic diseases, being transmitted to humans from animals. This project aims to develop practical vaccines to assist with the prevention of both cysticercosis and hydatid disease in humans. The vaccines will be used in the parasites' natural animal hosts, thereby breaking the parasite life-cycle and preventing the diseases being passed to humans. Substantial preliminary research has been undertaken by the applicant, including completion of successful preliminary vaccine trials. This project will optimise the vaccines and complete initial field trials in countries with high rates of disease transmission.Read moreRead less
Immunological Prevention Of Hydatid Disease And Cysticercosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$345,340.00
Summary
This project seeks to develop practical vaccines to control the transmission of cysticercosis and hydatid disease. These diseases are caused by infection with the larval stages of tapeworm parasites which have a worldwide distribution and cause substantial human morbidity and mortality. The parasites are transmitted to humans from animals. Methods for control of transmission of infection currently rely on public education and anthelmintic treatment of animals. These measures are often ineffectiv ....This project seeks to develop practical vaccines to control the transmission of cysticercosis and hydatid disease. These diseases are caused by infection with the larval stages of tapeworm parasites which have a worldwide distribution and cause substantial human morbidity and mortality. The parasites are transmitted to humans from animals. Methods for control of transmission of infection currently rely on public education and anthelmintic treatment of animals. These measures are often ineffective and there is an urgent need for new tools to help control transmission of these important diseases. Previous research has shown that the animal hosts of these parasites can be protected from infection by vaccination. Prevention of infection in the parasites' animal hosts has the effect of breaking the parasite life cycle and indirectly removes the source of infection for humans. This project will further develop an existing vaccine against hydatid disease, will develop a new vaccine against cysticercosis and will participate in initial international parasite control campaigns based on application of these vaccines.Read moreRead less
Transcriptome Profiling Of The Human Pathogen Schistosoma Japonicum
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$257,560.00
Summary
The parasitic disease, schistosomiasis, caused by human bloodflukes of the genus Schistosoma, is a major public health issue in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia. Current control methods are far from ideal, and a comprehensive understanding of the genetic mechanisms which allow schistosomes to grow, develop and survive within their hosts affords the best prospect for identifying new drug and vaccine targets. Microarray technology allows simultaneous monitoring of thousands of different g ....The parasitic disease, schistosomiasis, caused by human bloodflukes of the genus Schistosoma, is a major public health issue in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia. Current control methods are far from ideal, and a comprehensive understanding of the genetic mechanisms which allow schistosomes to grow, develop and survive within their hosts affords the best prospect for identifying new drug and vaccine targets. Microarray technology allows simultaneous monitoring of thousands of different genes, and to determine where and when they are active, thus placing the mass of data generated by genome sequencing programs into a biological and functional context. Microarrays provide a unique, cutting-edge, tool for investigating schistosome biology. We have fabricated a microarray representing some 20,000 schistosome genes. We will use this resource to perform large scale monitoring of schistosome gene expression during the parasite's complex life cycle, targetting the regionally important Asian schistosome, Schistosoma japonicum, for study. This will provide the single largest insight into the genetic changes that occur during schistosome development, will greatly further our understanding of the adaptations needed for the growth, development and survival of the parasite, and will identify genes involved in key biological processes, all of which may be exploitable for future interventions and treatments.Read moreRead less
Molecular Cascades Determining Asexual-sexual Development In Echinococcus Granulosus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$312,576.00
Summary
Hydatid disease is a zoonosis caused by the dog tapeworm Echinococcus with millions of people-animals infected. After decades of study, effective treatment remains a major challenge. We will use a combination of recently developed techniques to isolate specific genes associated with Echinococcus differentiation. Understanding how these genes are controlled will increase our sparse knowledge of the developmental biology of this important parasite and provide new clues for more effective therapies
Regulation Of Immune Mechanisms By Pathogen Cysteine Proteases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$424,676.00
Summary
To survive, parasites have evolved many strategies to control the human immune system. We have identified an enzyme secreted by parasites that can manipulate cells of the immune system, subsequently preventing the development of inflammatory responses. We will investigate the mechanism involved and determine whether this enzyme could be exploited for therapeutic purposes to switch off inflammation in autoimmune disease such as type-1 diabetes.
Use Of Peptides From Phage Display Libraries To Probe The Function Of AMA-1 And Other Malaria Surface Proteins
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$316,650.00
Summary
Malaria remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Much current research is aimed at exploring the molecular interactions between malarial proteins and host components in order to gain a deeper understanding of parasite virulence mechanisms, design alternative anti-malarial approaches and improve vaccine design. The apical membrane antigen-1( AMA-1) is a surface exposed protein which is thought to play a crucial role in invasion of red blood cells by malaria parasites, and is cu ....Malaria remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Much current research is aimed at exploring the molecular interactions between malarial proteins and host components in order to gain a deeper understanding of parasite virulence mechanisms, design alternative anti-malarial approaches and improve vaccine design. The apical membrane antigen-1( AMA-1) is a surface exposed protein which is thought to play a crucial role in invasion of red blood cells by malaria parasites, and is currently one of the leading asexual stage vaccine candidates. While antibodies to AMA-1 prevents malaria invasion, little is known about the role of the antigen in the invasion process. The aim of this proposal is to investigate the molecular interactions that makes AMA-1 an important player in the invasion process. We propose to map the regions of AMA-1 responsible for binding a set of peptides which we have isolated from random peptide libraries. Since these peptides inhibit the invasion of parasites into red blood cells, regions of AMA1- that bind these peptides will be of functional significance. A further outcome will be the identification of peptide residues essential for the inhibition of invasion followed by in vitro evolution of these peptides to improve their binding and inhibitory properties. A molecular description of how AMA1 binding peptides prevent parasite invasion of host erythrocytes will improve our understanding of the invasion process, and aid in improving vaccines based on AMA-1. Furthermore, this peptide-AMA-1 interaction will be assessed as a possible target for the development of novel anti-malarial therapies. Using random peptide libraries we have selected peptides that specifically bind to other merozoite surface proteins thought to be involved in merozoite invasion of erythrocytes. The ability of these peptides to inhibit merozoite invasion will be examined and characterised as described above.Read moreRead less