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Identifying Novel Antimalarial Targets Using ENU Mutagenesis In The Mouse
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$760,170.00
Summary
Malaria is estimated to cause 1.2 million deaths per year. The malarial parasite has developed resistance to most drugs and new drugs are needed. We aim to mimic the protective red blood cell diseases common in human populations in malarial endemic areas by identifying host targets that are important in parasite growth.
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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100019
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Miniaturisation: sensory limitations and navigational competence. Body size in most animals correlates with behavioural competence, brain capacity and sensory receptors. But since the navigational challenges faced by animals both big and small are similar, this project aims to identify the sensory and behavioural costs of miniaturisation and the strategies animals have evolved to cope with it.
Information processing at its limits: from the dimmest habitats to the smallest sizes. Ensuring optimal information processing at the limits of size and ambient light is a challenge for technical systems, but has been elegantly solved by animals. The challenge of navigation is similar for animals of all sizes and in both day and night. This project aims to conduct a comparative analysis to identify the consequence of size and light on the information processing capacities for visual navigation. ....Information processing at its limits: from the dimmest habitats to the smallest sizes. Ensuring optimal information processing at the limits of size and ambient light is a challenge for technical systems, but has been elegantly solved by animals. The challenge of navigation is similar for animals of all sizes and in both day and night. This project aims to conduct a comparative analysis to identify the consequence of size and light on the information processing capacities for visual navigation. Outcomes of this project will reveal the behavioural and physiological adaptations needed and the costs associated with navigating in the dimmest of habitats and at the smallest of sizes. Identifying such optimal biological solutions for robust navigation will be relevant for image processing, computer vision and robotics.Read moreRead less
Nutritional ecology of free ranging herbivores. Australian grasslands underpin most of our livestock industries and provide important habitats for many native plants and animals. In order to manage these areas sustainably, farmers and other land managers need to know how much food animals consume and how the nutritional quality of that food varies. However there is no simple way of doing this and this prevents timely manipulation of stock numbers and limits our ability to predict fluctuations i ....Nutritional ecology of free ranging herbivores. Australian grasslands underpin most of our livestock industries and provide important habitats for many native plants and animals. In order to manage these areas sustainably, farmers and other land managers need to know how much food animals consume and how the nutritional quality of that food varies. However there is no simple way of doing this and this prevents timely manipulation of stock numbers and limits our ability to predict fluctuations in numbers of native herbivores such as kangaroos. The project will provide a cheap and quick means for ecologists and land managers to incorporate nutritional analyses into their work
Read moreRead less
Helping Central Banks Measure Unobserved Variables Using Real-time Forecasts. The project addresses structural measurement problems confronted routinely by central bankers. The techniques developed, and the estimates provided, will aid directly the Partner Organisations (the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Norges Bank) and other central banks in formulating monetary policy. The analysis will allow interest rates in Australia and elsewhere to be set with greater pre ....Helping Central Banks Measure Unobserved Variables Using Real-time Forecasts. The project addresses structural measurement problems confronted routinely by central bankers. The techniques developed, and the estimates provided, will aid directly the Partner Organisations (the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Norges Bank) and other central banks in formulating monetary policy. The analysis will allow interest rates in Australia and elsewhere to be set with greater precision. The techniques developed in this project will facilitate the understanding and communication of monetary policy within the central banks concerned, and enhance communication of monetary policy strategy to the public.Read moreRead less
Unraveling ocean mixing and air-sea forcing along the Indo-Pacific exchange. This project aims to collect unprecedented observations and develop high resolution model simulations to examine changes in the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) north of Australia. This project expects to develop new knowledge of ocean-atmosphere interactions along the path of the ITF from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, which are the powerhouse that drives changes in winds and rainfall around Australia and the entire Indo ....Unraveling ocean mixing and air-sea forcing along the Indo-Pacific exchange. This project aims to collect unprecedented observations and develop high resolution model simulations to examine changes in the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) north of Australia. This project expects to develop new knowledge of ocean-atmosphere interactions along the path of the ITF from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, which are the powerhouse that drives changes in winds and rainfall around Australia and the entire Indo-Pacific region. Expected outcomes include a 1000-fold increase in the observations of mixing in the Indonesian seas and new understanding of the ocean-atmosphere processes that control water property change along the ITF. This should lead to strong improvement in the skill of climate forecast models in the Australian region.Read moreRead less
Coupling tropical cyclone and climate physics with ocean waves. It is argued that without accounting for the wave effects directly, the physics of large-scale air-sea interactions is inaccurate and incomplete. The project will introduce explicit coupling of large-scale atmospheric and oceanic phenomena with the physics of surface waves which should lead to improved predictions of tropical cyclones and climate.
Modeling Human Actin Related Protein 2/3 Complex Subunit 1B (ARPC1B) Deficiency In Mice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$755,005.00
Summary
The actin cytoskeleton forms the structure that not only keeps cells in their normal shape but is also essential for the movement of cells and for interaction between cells. We have recently identified the first patients with an immunodeficiency caused by a defect in a gene called ARPC1B, which plays a crucial role in the regulation of actin. Through the investigation of novel mouse models we will elucidate the pathomechanism underlying the disease of these patients.
Involvement of cell coupling in vascular function: Development of a computational model. Gap junctions are intercellular channels which enable the production of coordinated responses in multicellular tissues and organs. Blood vessels are comprised of endothelial cells surrounded by smooth muscle cells and gap junctions exist within and between these layers. The present proposal will determine the fundamental role of gap junctions in regulating blood flow and blood pressure. Our data will enable ....Involvement of cell coupling in vascular function: Development of a computational model. Gap junctions are intercellular channels which enable the production of coordinated responses in multicellular tissues and organs. Blood vessels are comprised of endothelial cells surrounded by smooth muscle cells and gap junctions exist within and between these layers. The present proposal will determine the fundamental role of gap junctions in regulating blood flow and blood pressure. Our data will enable us to develop a computational model of the vascular wall and so predict how changes in electrical properties, as occur during pressure changes, can influence blood flow. Since ageing is accompanied by an increase in blood pressure, our results will contribute to a better understanding of blood flow regulation in our ageing population.Read moreRead less