Muscle fibre excitability and calcium regulation in skeletal muscle of amphibians and mammals. The fundamental role of skeletal muscle is posture and movement. Essential for this is a specialised cell structure and a complex regulation of function. This project will define key aspects of muscle structure and functional regulation crucial to developing targets for improving function under stressed states such as fatigue, disease and age.
Calcium regulation in the skeletal muscle triad and along the fibre. The fundamental role of skeletal muscle is posture and movement. Alterations in the normal way calcium regulates skeletal muscle function in fatigue, age and disease states causes loss of normal function. Preventing or controlling these changes is a key therapeutic aim. However, we currently lack full understanding of key mechanisms of calcium regulation in healthy skeletal muscle. This project will define key aspects of cal ....Calcium regulation in the skeletal muscle triad and along the fibre. The fundamental role of skeletal muscle is posture and movement. Alterations in the normal way calcium regulates skeletal muscle function in fatigue, age and disease states causes loss of normal function. Preventing or controlling these changes is a key therapeutic aim. However, we currently lack full understanding of key mechanisms of calcium regulation in healthy skeletal muscle. This project will define key aspects of calcium regulation that could be crucial to developing targets for improving function of skeletal muscle under stressed states.Read moreRead less
Calcium cycling and heat generation in skeletal muscle fibres. This project aims to uncover the mechanisms that enable mammalian skeletal muscle to play a major role in generating the heat required to maintain a constant body temperature. The ability to modulate body heat played a defining role in the evolution of species, their behaviour and global distribution. How heat production occurs in resting muscle is of fundamental importance and will be defined for the first time, providing new avenu ....Calcium cycling and heat generation in skeletal muscle fibres. This project aims to uncover the mechanisms that enable mammalian skeletal muscle to play a major role in generating the heat required to maintain a constant body temperature. The ability to modulate body heat played a defining role in the evolution of species, their behaviour and global distribution. How heat production occurs in resting muscle is of fundamental importance and will be defined for the first time, providing new avenues to manipulate metabolic rate and counter obesity.Read moreRead less
The sulfate anion transporter gene, Sat1: physiology, regulation and developmental expression. Sulfate is an essential nutrient for cell growth and survival. The kidneys and liver help regulate sulfate levels in the body, by yet unknown mechanisms. Recently, we cloned a gene, Sat1, expressed in mouse liver and kidneys, which may be responsible for body sulfate maintenance. In this study, we will determine the physiological importance of Sat1 in cell growth/survival and in controlling body sulfa ....The sulfate anion transporter gene, Sat1: physiology, regulation and developmental expression. Sulfate is an essential nutrient for cell growth and survival. The kidneys and liver help regulate sulfate levels in the body, by yet unknown mechanisms. Recently, we cloned a gene, Sat1, expressed in mouse liver and kidneys, which may be responsible for body sulfate maintenance. In this study, we will determine the physiological importance of Sat1 in cell growth/survival and in controlling body sulfate levels. We will generate and characterise a Sat1 lacking mouse, study its expression during development and its effects on other genes. We will elucidate how body sulfate levels are maintained and its importance in cell growth/development.Read moreRead less
Inhibitory control of retinal sensitivity. We will determine how the nerve cells that carry information from the eye to the brain are always able to provide signals despite very different environments; daylight, fog and night. Knowledge of how nerve cells achieve this rapid learning is important for any understanding of brain function; it is fundamental if we are to develop machines that see or that help restore vision in humans. The project will provide the world's first look at the synaptic ph ....Inhibitory control of retinal sensitivity. We will determine how the nerve cells that carry information from the eye to the brain are always able to provide signals despite very different environments; daylight, fog and night. Knowledge of how nerve cells achieve this rapid learning is important for any understanding of brain function; it is fundamental if we are to develop machines that see or that help restore vision in humans. The project will provide the world's first look at the synaptic physiology that underpins all visual perception, helping to bring Australia back to the forefront of research in this field. This new collaboration between two successful researchers will attract top quality students and researchers from Australia and abroad and be published in major journals.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668435
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,300,000.00
Summary
Biomedical Engineering Sensing and Imaging Facility. The sensing and imaging facility will be the only national facility for leading engineering and medical researchers to undertake multidiscipline research into live and model biological systems. The facility will capture and combine existing strengths in these fields in Melbourne. This will provide new insights into the physiology of human, animal and plant systems and the development of preventive and curative strategies for disease.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0561115
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$474,500.00
Summary
Adelaide Core Live Organism Imaging Facility. Live organism imaging represents a powerful and essential tool in many aspects of modern biology. This application is for the purchase of two major items of equipment: a Xenogen IVIS Imaging System 200 and a Skyscan 1076_in vivo micro-CT scanner. As there are presently no machines within Adelaide capable of real-time live animal and plant imaging, scientific progress in a number of projects is significantly restricted. The acquisition of a state-of ....Adelaide Core Live Organism Imaging Facility. Live organism imaging represents a powerful and essential tool in many aspects of modern biology. This application is for the purchase of two major items of equipment: a Xenogen IVIS Imaging System 200 and a Skyscan 1076_in vivo micro-CT scanner. As there are presently no machines within Adelaide capable of real-time live animal and plant imaging, scientific progress in a number of projects is significantly restricted. The acquisition of a state-of-the-art live organism imaging facility in Adelaide would be a major advance for investigators within the Adelaide bioscience community and would increase their research productivity and international competitivenessRead moreRead less