Resurgent Sodium Currents in Peripheral Nerve Axons and Sensory Neurones. This project seeks evidence that unusual gating of sodium channels contributes to the hyperexcitability that results in spontaneous impulse activity in sensory axons. It asks whether axons normally behave as if they have this gating mode, whether it can be induced, whether any such behaviour is more prominent with sensory axons than motor, and whether the current can be measured directly in sensory neurones. The project is ....Resurgent Sodium Currents in Peripheral Nerve Axons and Sensory Neurones. This project seeks evidence that unusual gating of sodium channels contributes to the hyperexcitability that results in spontaneous impulse activity in sensory axons. It asks whether axons normally behave as if they have this gating mode, whether it can be induced, whether any such behaviour is more prominent with sensory axons than motor, and whether the current can be measured directly in sensory neurones. The project is the first to involve correlation of patch-clamp recordings with the behaviour of intact axons. Its outcomes will affect thought about sodium channel behaviour and may alter approaches to disorders of axonal excitability.Read moreRead less
How triadin and junctin communicate with ryanodine receptors deep within a calcium store to determine skeletal muscle contraction. The project results will provide a platform for muscle relaxants and other drugs that will specifically target either the heart or skeletal muscle and will have applications in the livestock, veterinary and pharmaceutical Industries. The project falls within the National Research Priorities of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health and Frontier Technologies for Buil ....How triadin and junctin communicate with ryanodine receptors deep within a calcium store to determine skeletal muscle contraction. The project results will provide a platform for muscle relaxants and other drugs that will specifically target either the heart or skeletal muscle and will have applications in the livestock, veterinary and pharmaceutical Industries. The project falls within the National Research Priorities of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health and Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries, as well as the national priority goal of Ageing well, Ageing Productively. The project will be of national benefit in training undergraduate students, PhD students and a postdoctoral fellow in state-of-the-art techniques in an internationally competitive research field.Read moreRead less
Calcium Signalling and Sequestration at Vertebrate Motor-Nerve Terminals. A fundamental process at Synapses is the release of transmitter from nerve terminals due to the initiation of calcium signalling in the temrinals by impulses. This calcium signalling must be terminated by sequestering processes. The aim of this project is to identify these processes in a vertebrate motor-nerve terminal and to determine the means by which calcium signals the changes in efficacy of transmitter release during ....Calcium Signalling and Sequestration at Vertebrate Motor-Nerve Terminals. A fundamental process at Synapses is the release of transmitter from nerve terminals due to the initiation of calcium signalling in the temrinals by impulses. This calcium signalling must be terminated by sequestering processes. The aim of this project is to identify these processes in a vertebrate motor-nerve terminal and to determine the means by which calcium signals the changes in efficacy of transmitter release during trains of impulses. This work will give a complete description of calcium signalling in a vertebrate nerve terminal and provide the basis for ameliorating failures in transmission from nerve to muscle.Read moreRead less
REGULATION OF RYANODINE RECEPTOR CALCIUM CHANNELS BY THE CALCIUM BINDING PROTEIN CALSEQUESTRIN. The project is to examine the functional interaction between two proteins in skeletal muscle that are essential for Ca2+ regulation and hence contraction, respiration and movement in all vertebrate species. One protein, the ryanodine receptor, releases calcium from stores inside the muscle cell. The other protein, calsequestrin, binds and sequesters calcium ions. We have recently discovered that th ....REGULATION OF RYANODINE RECEPTOR CALCIUM CHANNELS BY THE CALCIUM BINDING PROTEIN CALSEQUESTRIN. The project is to examine the functional interaction between two proteins in skeletal muscle that are essential for Ca2+ regulation and hence contraction, respiration and movement in all vertebrate species. One protein, the ryanodine receptor, releases calcium from stores inside the muscle cell. The other protein, calsequestrin, binds and sequesters calcium ions. We have recently discovered that the proteins also bind to each other and that calsequestrin regulates Ca2+ release from the stores through the ryanodine receptor ion channel. This regulation is likely to be important in conserving store calcium during stress or fatigue.Read moreRead less
INTRINSIC PROPERTIES OF THE PORE FORMING DOMAIN OF THE RYANODINE RECEPTOR CALCIUM CHANNEL. The project is to understand how a calcium ion channel is able to regulate muscle performance. The ion channel, known as the ryanodine receptor, is essential for human and animal survival. The results of the project will be integral to understanding muscle performance in humans and will have long term implications for Australian sports physiology and sports science. The project will also be integral to ....INTRINSIC PROPERTIES OF THE PORE FORMING DOMAIN OF THE RYANODINE RECEPTOR CALCIUM CHANNEL. The project is to understand how a calcium ion channel is able to regulate muscle performance. The ion channel, known as the ryanodine receptor, is essential for human and animal survival. The results of the project will be integral to understanding muscle performance in humans and will have long term implications for Australian sports physiology and sports science. The project will also be integral to understanding muscle performance and development in animals and will have repercussions for the Australian livestock and racing industries. The results may lead to the development of new insecticides since insect mobility depends on ryanodine receptor activity. This will benefit to Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
ION CHANNELS FORMED BY SMALL PROTEINS FROM VIRUSES. Movements of ions across cell membranes through protein ion channels are essential for normal cell function. We have found that some small proteins from viruses can form ion channels. Studying these simple channels should give us clues about the function of more complex channels, such as those in the brain, as well as giving us information about the viruses themselves. We will test whether a small protein from Ross River virus forms ion channel ....ION CHANNELS FORMED BY SMALL PROTEINS FROM VIRUSES. Movements of ions across cell membranes through protein ion channels are essential for normal cell function. We have found that some small proteins from viruses can form ion channels. Studying these simple channels should give us clues about the function of more complex channels, such as those in the brain, as well as giving us information about the viruses themselves. We will test whether a small protein from Ross River virus forms ion channels and will also test the effects of selected mutations in proteins from influenza and AIDS viruses that we have shown previously to form ion channels.Read moreRead less