Effects Of Muscle Inflammation On Sensory Neuron Excitability
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$397,398.00
Summary
Muscle pain is a common and poorly treated health problem for many Australians. This project examines the properties of nerves that sense muscle pain and looks at how these change during inflammation, a common cause of muscle pain. We are looking specifically at jaw muscles, which are one of the most common sites of chronic muscle pain. By understanding how muscle nerves are changed by injury, we hope to be able to develop treatments to prevent or reverse these changes.
Understanding Uterine Contractility: What Can We Learn From Obesity?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$600,792.00
Summary
The incidence of failure to progress in labour has increased in recent years, being linked to the rise in obesity. The result is a significant escalation in the rate of delivery by Caesarean Section (CS) which increases the risk of serious complications during subsequent pregnancies. We have identified five dysfunctional systems associated with poor uterine contraction. We now aim to determine the mechanisms underlying these dysfunctional systems, particularly those mechanisms in common.
The Biophysical Basis Of HCN Channels In Human Peripheral Nerve
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$50,315.00
Summary
Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels play an important role as pacemakers in the cardiac and nervous systems. HCN channel dysfunction is implicated in a number of disorders including neuropathic pain and epilepsy. My aim is to determine the kinetics and voltage dependence of HCN channels in human peripheral nerve in vivo. Understanding these channels is a prerequisite to the development of safe targeted therapies against neuropathic pain.
EPITHELIAL ION TRANSPORT DEFECTS IN CYSTIC FIBROSIS: PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND TREATMENT
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$290,440.00
Summary
The thin layer of fluid covering the surface of the air passages acts to protect the airway surface from drying. This fluid also allows the hair-like projections, or cilia, on the top of the airway cells to beat more effectively. The volume and composition of this fluid is determined by the movement of salt and water across the mucous membranes of the air passages. The importance of this fluid is shown by the problems that occur in Cystic Fibrosis (CF), the most common lethal inherited disease a ....The thin layer of fluid covering the surface of the air passages acts to protect the airway surface from drying. This fluid also allows the hair-like projections, or cilia, on the top of the airway cells to beat more effectively. The volume and composition of this fluid is determined by the movement of salt and water across the mucous membranes of the air passages. The importance of this fluid is shown by the problems that occur in Cystic Fibrosis (CF), the most common lethal inherited disease affecting Australians. In CF, altered salt transport causes drying of the airway surface which impairs the working of the cilia. This leads to retention of mucous in the airway with repeated bacterial infections damaging the lungs. Simple tests have been designed to directly measure the movement of salt across the surface of the nasal passage using a fine soft rubber tube. Movement of mucous in the nose is measured using other simple techniques that are currently used diagnostically. Together, these tests in the nose provide vital information about how the surface of normal human airway moves salt, water and mucous. Any differences found in CF patients will then give us a good idea of the problems found in the CF lung. We will study the interactions between calcium, sodium and chloride in the fluid lining the airways, measuring changes in salt and mucous movement. A range of testing procedures will be used in human volunteers, anaesthetised mice and isolated tissues from sheep. We have already demonstrated important links between the fluid lining the airways and salt movement, and we expect that this may lead to the development of new treatments for Cystic Fibrosis. This therapy will focus on treating the lung problems of CF patients, the major cause of disability. We anticipate that this preventative therapy may offer real benefits in the fight to cure CF.Read moreRead less
Aberrant Behaviour Of Cardiac Calcium Release Channels Induced By Ryanodine Receptor Peptide Probes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$315,375.00
Summary
Contraction of heart muscle is regulated by the release of calcium ions from an intracellular store known as the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Calcium is released from this store to trigger contraction and then taken up again to let the heart muscle relax. Calcium flows out from the store through a specialised type of ion channel protein known as the ryanodine receptor. Recently, genetic studies have indicted that some forms of sudden cardiac death are due to mutations in the ryanodine receptor in the ....Contraction of heart muscle is regulated by the release of calcium ions from an intracellular store known as the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Calcium is released from this store to trigger contraction and then taken up again to let the heart muscle relax. Calcium flows out from the store through a specialised type of ion channel protein known as the ryanodine receptor. Recently, genetic studies have indicted that some forms of sudden cardiac death are due to mutations in the ryanodine receptor in the heart of susceptible individuals. However, nothing is currently known about how such mutations affect the function of the ryanodine receptor or how this can cause the abnormal heart beating that leads to sudden cardiac death. This project will investigate the normal functioning of the ryanodine receptor and what aberrations occur with the different mutations. This could lead to better treatment of individuals susceptible to this type of sudden cardiac death. The effectiveness of one type of drug in preventing aberrant channel behaviour will also be examined.Read moreRead less