Improving Synthetic Methodology To Prepare Pre-clinical Analogues Of Human Insulin
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$457,708.00
Summary
The glucose regulatory hormone, insulin, remains the only treatment for type I diabetes and up to 30% of type II diabetes, both of which are among the world’s fastest growing chronic diseases today. Because insulin, if taken orally, would be broken down quickly, it has usually been given by injection. This project will develop novel chemical methods for the efficient preparation of novel insulin therapeutics with improved stability and oral bioavailability for prolonged treatment of patients.
Modulation Of Feeding Through Pharmacological Targeting Of The Relaxin-3 Receptor RXFP3
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$584,955.00
Summary
Relaxin-3 is a neuropeptide that regulates a number of physiological processes, including food intake, suggesting that the relaxin-3 receptor RXFP3 may be a new target for treatment of eating disorders such as obesity. This project will develop new selective and high-affinity ligands for RXFP3, which will be critical pharmacological tools for the preclinical studies and evaluation of this system.
Developing Species-specific, Structure-targeting Peptides As A Novel Class Of Antibiotics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$607,967.00
Summary
Multidrug, antibiotic resistance is a serious global threat. It is a real possibility that in the absence of new antibiotics, common infections could soon become untreatable. This project will develop a novel class of antibiotics that target the core structures of essential bacterial proteins. The successful outcome of this work will also aid the development of specific peptide-based inhibitors for numerous additional diseases, including viral and fungal infections and cancer.
Unraveling Fibrosis By Pharmacological Targeting Of The G Protein-coupled Receptor, RXFP1
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$798,618.00
Summary
Peptides, with their high specificity and low toxicity profiles, are highly attractive alternatives to small molecule drugs. H2 relaxin, a peptide hormone, has a strong potential for treating fibrosis. However, the large size of H2 relaxin makes it difficult and expensive to manufacture. Once administered to patients, it is also quickly degraded. We have developed a small anti-fibrotic relaxin peptide, and propose to understand its mechanism of action and improve its therapeutic indices.
Potent Small Molecule Modulators Of A Complement Protein In Inflammation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$689,428.00
Summary
We have invented powerful new compounds that act on the cell surface and regulate inflammation. We plan to (1) fine-tune our small molecules for optimal activity on different kinds of immune cells; (2) understand mechanisms by which the compounds affect cellular inflammatory responses; (3) evaluate the compounds as potential treatments in rodent models of inflammatory diseases implicated from cell studies. This study is anticipated to lead to clinical studies for a new kind of drug treatment.
Understanding The Structure/function Relationships Of The Iron Regulatory Peptide Hepcidin
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,126.00
Summary
This project seeks to understand the interactions between the peptide hormone hepcidin and its receptor and use this information to develop new drugs. Hepcidin is the major iron-regulatory hormone in humans and a range of iron-related diseases are caused by incorrect levels of this hormone. Many Australians are affected by these diseases so the development of hepcidin-based treatments has the potential to have significant impact on the overall health of the community.
Development Of Selective Blockers Of Acid Sensing Ion Channel 1a For The Treatment Of Stroke
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$702,443.00
Summary
Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. In addition, stroke causes an extremely high incidence of disability in surviving victims due to the brain damage suffered during stroke. Unfortunately, no effective neuroprotective therapy is currently available for stroke patients. In this project we plan to develop novel neuroprotective agents that are effective even when used many hours after stroke, thus providing a wide therapeutic time window for treatment of stroke patients.
Developing Subtype-selective Blockers Of Acid-sensing Ion Channels For Treating Peripheral Pain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$641,407.00
Summary
Chronic pain is a huge medical problem that affects 1 in 5 adults. There are few drugs available for treating chronic pain, and many of these have limited efficacy and dose-limiting side-effects. Acid-sensing ion channels are proteins that play an essential role in the specialised nerves that sense pain signals. The ultimate goal of this project is to engineer highly selective blockers of these channels that can be used to develop effective analgesics for treating patients with chronic pain.
Development Of Carbohydrate Based Self-adjuvanting Vaccine Delivery System
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$311,647.00
Summary
The world is in a need for effective vaccines for the treatment/prevention of a range of currently occurring diseases. The aim of this project is to develop sugar/lipid-based delivery systems by revolutionary new chemo-enzymatic technology. Expected outcomes of the project will be numerous biologically active vaccine candidates and novel technologies which will lead to effective therapeutic products.
Further Development Of The Clinical Potential Of H2 Relaxin
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$651,768.00
Summary
The hormone relaxin mediates cardiovascular and kidney changes during pregnancy. These important functions have led to its current use in clinical trials for the treatment of acute heart failure, a condition affecting millions of patients worldwide. However, there is an urgent need for a longer lasting form of relaxin for prolonged treatment of patients. Our studies will focus on understanding the blood breakdown of the peptide to lead to the design of longer lasting relaxin analogues.