Elucidating The Role Of Transthalamic Pathways In Cortical Processing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$792,688.00
Summary
Your brain senses the world and produces a suitable motor response by processing information between brain regions, such as primary sensory cortex to secondary cortex. Surprisingly, cortical pathways have a parallel route through the thalamus (transthalamic pathways) but their function is entirely unknown. We will use novel genetic and viral tools to shut down neural pathways while mice make decisions, thus identifying new circuits in our understanding of disorders with cognitive deficits.
Silencing Pulmonary Nociceptors To Treat Severe Respiratory Viral Infections
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$534,173.00
Summary
The lungs receive a rich supply of nerve fibres, many of which play an important role in helping defend against pathogens, including viruses. When viral infections become severe, too much inflammation occurs in the lungs and this creates a serious and difficult to treat clinical problem. Hundreds of thousands of people each year die from the complications of severe lung infections. We are investigating a potential new therapy that targets the lung nerves and relieves excessive inflammation.
Nanoengineered Bioelectronic Systems For All-Optical Control Of Neuron Growth And Stimulation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$757,452.00
Summary
Nerve cells are the primary signal carriers of the human body. When they cease to function normally, our bodies ability to function and sense the physical world is influenced catastrophically. We will develop a new bioelectronic system made by printing clever inks that can artificially stimulate nerve cells without the typical requirements for invasive metal electrodes or external power. These new scientific advances will revolutionize nerve cell repair and treatment of neurological disorders.
Exploiting Messenger RNA Export As A Novel Therapeutic Strategy To Treat Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$948,098.00
Summary
Novel therapies for cancers represent an area of unmet clinical need. We have identified a new biological pathway implicated in cancer, namely selective mRNA export. Compounds inhibiting other steps of the gene expression pathway are promising therapeutic candidates for cancer, yet mRNA export inhibitors do not exist. We propose to develop first-in-class inhibitors of mRNA export that selectively target transcriptionally addicted cancers with dysregulated RNA processing.
Pathways That Regulate Nuclear Export Of Circular RNA
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$933,327.00
Summary
An emerging and unusual class of RNA molecules, circular RNAs (circRNAs), is widespread and plays important roles in cancer initiation and progression. However, the pathways responsible for nuclear export of circRNAs are unknown. We propose here to systematically determine how circRNAs are exported from the nucleus and characterise the effect of modulating circRNA export pathways in cancer. This will enable us to determine whether circRNAs can function as a biomarker of patient response.