A common characteristic of cancer is the failure of cells to die when they normally would. One of the problems with many cancer therapies is that they rely on the integrity of signalling pathways to the normal ‘death machinery’ of the cell to do their job. By understanding how the molecular death machine operates we are fashioning new drugs that can target it directly, thus bypassing the very pathways that are so frequently disrupted in tumour cells.
Development Of Peptide-based Scaffolds For Intracellular Cancer Targets
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,479,836.00
Summary
The overall aim of this project is to develop peptide-based drugs that are able to cross cell membranes and inhibit specific targets inside cells leading to more effective, safer and cost effective drugs for cancer. One potential outcome of the project will be new drug leads to treat melanoma and leukemia that are likely to be less toxic, more potent and less likely to develop resistance than current treatments.
A number of Leukemias, lymphomas and other blood malignancies are caused by mutations in a protein called JAK (Janus Kinase). To combat this human cells produce a protein that inhibits JAK (called SOCS). We aim to study how this process works and to mimic SOCS with a drug in order to treat leukemia.
Structural Studies Of Thyroid Peroxidase, An Autoantigen In Autoimmune Thyroid Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$386,423.00
Summary
This proposal is aimed at determining the three dimensional structure of Thyroid Peroxidase, a protein found in the human thyroid gland that is important in the production of the hormone thyroxine. Thyroxine is involved in controlling the rate of metabolic processes in the body and influencing physical development.
How Insulin And The Insulin-like Growth Factors Bind To Their Receptors - The Key Role Of The ?-chain C-terminal Helix
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$752,712.00
Summary
Cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes are three of the most important health issues facing Australia. Aberrant signalling into the cell interior by the related insulin receptor and Type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor is implicated in all three of these disease states. Our research is aimed at understanding how these signalling events occur at the atomic level of detail – such knowledge has the potential to contribute to the development of novel therapeutics aimed at treating these dise ....Cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes are three of the most important health issues facing Australia. Aberrant signalling into the cell interior by the related insulin receptor and Type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor is implicated in all three of these disease states. Our research is aimed at understanding how these signalling events occur at the atomic level of detail – such knowledge has the potential to contribute to the development of novel therapeutics aimed at treating these diseases.Read moreRead less
Imaging The Machinery Of Bacterial Locomotion At Atomic Resolution
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,732.00
Summary
Our aim is to a) understand and b) sabotage the machinery of locomotion in bacteria. The flagellar motor propels bacteria at 100s of revolutions per second through viscous media making this the most powerful motor known to man. Bacteria can sense their environment and make informed decisions to avoid hazards or find food. Understanding how this machinery works in atomic detail is expected to have implications for both the development of new antibacterials and in the area of nano-medicine.
My research is aimed at understanding how the structure and dynamics of proteins dictates their function. I use X-ray crystallography to determine the shapes of proteins. Proteins are not static, however - they move in complicated ways, and often their motion is critical to their function (molecular motors, for example). It is very difficult to 'watch' this movement in the lab, so I use computer simulation to try to understand how proteins move.
Structure, Function And Dynamics Of ATP Synthases And Rotary Proton Pumps
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$923,020.00
Summary
ATP synthase is the molecular machinery that converts energy derived from nutrients or photosynthesis into the universal biological fuel source ATP (adenosine triphosphate). This is one of the most fundamental processes of life and is conserved from bacteria to plants to humans. Understanding how ATP synthase and its relatives work in molecular detail is expected to have wide-ranging implications for both medicine (in understanding metabolic disorders) and the design of new antibacterial agents.
Signalling Mechanisms In The Insulin Receptor Family
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Summary
The receptor molecules that we are studying are involved in two disease states, namely, diabetes and cancer. These diseases are particularly relevant in the context of Australia's aging population. The task of these particular receptor molecules is to pass messages from the outside of cells to the interior of cells. We are seeking to understand, at the molecular level of detail, the way in which these messages are transferred, with the potential to lead to new avenues for therapeutic development ....The receptor molecules that we are studying are involved in two disease states, namely, diabetes and cancer. These diseases are particularly relevant in the context of Australia's aging population. The task of these particular receptor molecules is to pass messages from the outside of cells to the interior of cells. We are seeking to understand, at the molecular level of detail, the way in which these messages are transferred, with the potential to lead to new avenues for therapeutic development in the context of these two diseases.Read moreRead less
Structure And Function Of A Cancer-linked Co-regulator Complex
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,282,475.00
Summary
We seek to understand the mechanisms by which genes are switched on and off throughout our lifetime. A number of multi-component protein machines are involved in this process but their make-up and mechanism of action is not understood. We will investigate the structure and function of one of these machines that has been strongly linked to cancer.