The fate of dietary selenium in vivo; a direct approach to linking chemical form with biological activity. Dietary selenium supplementation has great potential as a preventative treatment for a range of human health conditions, including cancer, that widely affect the Australian population. However, the adverse effects of such treatments are not fully recognised. This project will increase our knowledge of how selenium compounds are stored and utilised in the body and relate the information to c ....The fate of dietary selenium in vivo; a direct approach to linking chemical form with biological activity. Dietary selenium supplementation has great potential as a preventative treatment for a range of human health conditions, including cancer, that widely affect the Australian population. However, the adverse effects of such treatments are not fully recognised. This project will increase our knowledge of how selenium compounds are stored and utilised in the body and relate the information to clinical observations regarding dietary intake of selenium and other compounds. The new understanding generated will delineate the conditions for safe intake, so that the beneficial effects associated with selenium supplementation may be harnessed more effectively.Read moreRead less
Microprobe and Nanoprobe Studies on Intracellular Disease Processes and Their Treatment. Breakthrough microprobe and nanoprobe technologies, involving X-ray, visible and infrared light can focus into different components of mammalian cells in order to interrogate the biochemistry that is occurring therein. Each of the different wavelengths of light provides complementary biochemical information that enables a deeper understanding of changes in cells that occur as a function of drug treatments an ....Microprobe and Nanoprobe Studies on Intracellular Disease Processes and Their Treatment. Breakthrough microprobe and nanoprobe technologies, involving X-ray, visible and infrared light can focus into different components of mammalian cells in order to interrogate the biochemistry that is occurring therein. Each of the different wavelengths of light provides complementary biochemical information that enables a deeper understanding of changes in cells that occur as a function of drug treatments and disease processes. This will provide unprecedented information as to where drugs go and how they are transformed inside cells that, in turn, may revolutionalise the way in which new drugs are designed that have higher specificity and fewer side effects.Read moreRead less
Nanoprobe and Microprobe Spectroscopic Techniques in Drug Design, Probing Mechanisms of Diseases, and Bioinorganic Chemistry. Nanoprobe and microprobe spectroscopic techniques offer unparalleled opportunities to probe the structures and distributions of drugs, carcinogens, and biomolecules in cultured cells and tissues. Such techniques represent new frontiers in understanding in vivo metabolic processes at the molecular level, as well as providing unprecedented information on the metabolism and ....Nanoprobe and Microprobe Spectroscopic Techniques in Drug Design, Probing Mechanisms of Diseases, and Bioinorganic Chemistry. Nanoprobe and microprobe spectroscopic techniques offer unparalleled opportunities to probe the structures and distributions of drugs, carcinogens, and biomolecules in cultured cells and tissues. Such techniques represent new frontiers in understanding in vivo metabolic processes at the molecular level, as well as providing unprecedented information on the metabolism and distributions of pharmaceuticals and toxins involved in the treatment and cause of diseases, such as cancer. This project is aimed at pushing the boundaries of nanoprobe and microprobe (X-ray absorption, SRIXE, PIXE, Raman and two-photon fluorescence) techniques for such applications.Read moreRead less
Synthetic Molybdenum Enzymes. This project aims to produce synthetic molybdenum (Mo) enzymes, small molecules that share structural and functional attributes with the crucially important molybdopterin?Mo enzymes. These ubiquitous enzymes are essential for plant and animal health, natural cycles involving carbon, nitrogen and sulfur, and global climate control and atmospheric albedo (reflectance); consequently, they impact heavily on commerce, the environment and society. The study will provid ....Synthetic Molybdenum Enzymes. This project aims to produce synthetic molybdenum (Mo) enzymes, small molecules that share structural and functional attributes with the crucially important molybdopterin?Mo enzymes. These ubiquitous enzymes are essential for plant and animal health, natural cycles involving carbon, nitrogen and sulfur, and global climate control and atmospheric albedo (reflectance); consequently, they impact heavily on commerce, the environment and society. The study will provide urgently needed insights into the fundamental Mo?sulfur chemistry of the enzyme active sites and inform efforts to reduce the negative impacts of enzyme dysfunction and the design of new commercial catalysts.Read moreRead less
Nanoprobe and Microprobe Structural and Spectroscopic Studies in Biomedical Research. Breakthrough microprobe and nanoprobe technologies, involving X-ray, visible and infrared light can focus into different components of mammalian cells in order to interrogate the biochemistry that is occurring therein. Each of the different wavelengths of light provides complementary biochemical information that enables multi-layered information on changes in cells that occur as a function of drug treatments a ....Nanoprobe and Microprobe Structural and Spectroscopic Studies in Biomedical Research. Breakthrough microprobe and nanoprobe technologies, involving X-ray, visible and infrared light can focus into different components of mammalian cells in order to interrogate the biochemistry that is occurring therein. Each of the different wavelengths of light provides complementary biochemical information that enables multi-layered information on changes in cells that occur as a function of drug treatments and disease processes. This will provide unprecedented information as to where drugs go and how they are transformed inside cells that, in turn, may revolutionalise the way in which new drugs are designed that have higher specificity and lower side effects.Read moreRead less
Polynuclear Metal Complexes as Molecular Nanomagnets. Computer hard drives and other devices use tiny particles of magnetic materials to store digital information. Technological advances require an increase in the density of information storage and therefore even smaller magnetic particles. This project has the potential to synthesise materials where a single molecule could act as the smallest possible unit of magnetic memory. The future application of these materials may provide an increase ....Polynuclear Metal Complexes as Molecular Nanomagnets. Computer hard drives and other devices use tiny particles of magnetic materials to store digital information. Technological advances require an increase in the density of information storage and therefore even smaller magnetic particles. This project has the potential to synthesise materials where a single molecule could act as the smallest possible unit of magnetic memory. The future application of these materials may provide an increase of three orders of magnitude in information storage density. In addition, they may find employment in quantum computers, which can perform calculations exponentially faster than conventional computers.Read moreRead less
An Integrated Approach Towards Development of Highly Specific Chemotherapeutics. Many diseases are caused or can be treated by modifying the activities of particular enzymes. Molecules that affect enzymatic activities have potential as therapeutic agents. A successful approach to the discovery of new drug molecules is to design them based on very detailed knowledge of how the target enzyme works. In this project, a highly motivated team of scientists will use state of the art instruments and the ....An Integrated Approach Towards Development of Highly Specific Chemotherapeutics. Many diseases are caused or can be treated by modifying the activities of particular enzymes. Molecules that affect enzymatic activities have potential as therapeutic agents. A successful approach to the discovery of new drug molecules is to design them based on very detailed knowledge of how the target enzyme works. In this project, a highly motivated team of scientists will use state of the art instruments and their combined creativity to understand the intimate details of how one large group of enzymes work. The enzymes selected are the bimetallic hydrolases, many of which are associated with disorders including osteoporosis, mental illnesses, cystic fibrosis and various types of cancer.Read moreRead less
Bioinorganic Chemistry of Molybdenum. Enzymes containing the trace element molybdenum play crucial roles in plant, animal and human health, drug metabolism, environmental processes and climate. This international, multidisciplinary project will advance our understanding of the structure and function of these enzymes at the atomic level and inform strategies to reduce the impact of crop, livestock and human diseases and adverse environmental (e.g. algal blooms, leaching of toxic arsenic) and clim ....Bioinorganic Chemistry of Molybdenum. Enzymes containing the trace element molybdenum play crucial roles in plant, animal and human health, drug metabolism, environmental processes and climate. This international, multidisciplinary project will advance our understanding of the structure and function of these enzymes at the atomic level and inform strategies to reduce the impact of crop, livestock and human diseases and adverse environmental (e.g. algal blooms, leaching of toxic arsenic) and climatic events. Effective strategies would be of enormous social and economic benefit to Australia. The training of skilled scientists and access to major overseas facilities are additional benefits of the project.Read moreRead less