Airway Epithelial IAPs And Their Interaction With Zn Ions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$260,779.00
Summary
The air we breathe contains a variety of harmful substances. Damage to the lining involves death of the ciliated cells that line the airways. We have shown that zinc protects these cells from premature death. This application focuses on a family of proteins called IAPs which bind zinc and regulate cell death in other tissues. This project focusses on how the IAPs and Zn may act together to mainitain healthy airways and how abnormalities of these may occur in people with asthma.
Signaling in the crypt: a novel metabolic pathway in intestinal stem cells. The gut is the most rapidly renewing tissue in the body, driven by a highly active stem cell niche. Bile acids are emerging as critical regulators of this stem cell niche and disruption of bile acid homeostasis has profoundly adverse effects on intestinal renewal and hence gut health. We are addressing a critical gap in our understanding of how bile acids are controlled within stem cell niche. The aim of the project is ....Signaling in the crypt: a novel metabolic pathway in intestinal stem cells. The gut is the most rapidly renewing tissue in the body, driven by a highly active stem cell niche. Bile acids are emerging as critical regulators of this stem cell niche and disruption of bile acid homeostasis has profoundly adverse effects on intestinal renewal and hence gut health. We are addressing a critical gap in our understanding of how bile acids are controlled within stem cell niche. The aim of the project is to define the critical role of a novel enzyme called UGT8 in controlling intestinal stem cell response to bile acids; this is achieved by modulating UGT8 activity in intestinal stem cell models and determining the effects on stem cell function and the key signalling pathways that control intestinal homeostasis and renewal.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100604
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$436,600.00
Summary
How do cells sense and react to mechanical forces? There is accumulating evidence that mechanical forces exerted on tissues and cells strongly influences their behaviour. My research aims to understand how cells sense and respond to forces experienced throughout life. Using a combination of three-dimensional cell and tissue culture methods, I will investigate how compressive forces change the biochemistry of cells and their functionality. This work is aimed at generating fundamental knowledge to ....How do cells sense and react to mechanical forces? There is accumulating evidence that mechanical forces exerted on tissues and cells strongly influences their behaviour. My research aims to understand how cells sense and respond to forces experienced throughout life. Using a combination of three-dimensional cell and tissue culture methods, I will investigate how compressive forces change the biochemistry of cells and their functionality. This work is aimed at generating fundamental knowledge to improve our comprehension of how cells respond to force. The expected outcome is a greater understanding of mechanical and biochemical relationships between cells and the environment, to inform fields of tissue engineering of culture scaffolds to better mimic natural cell-tissue settings.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0452977
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$329,504.00
Summary
Upgrade and expansion of Newcastle Plant Growth Facility. The project will upgrade and expand the Newcastle Plant Growth Facility. The upgrades will improve glasshouse environments for the production of high quality plant material. This outcome will be achieved through increasing solar transmittance and more effective temperature control. Expansion will address unmet demand for standard and PC2 plant growth space. Together the infrastructure additions will enhance productivity and excellence ....Upgrade and expansion of Newcastle Plant Growth Facility. The project will upgrade and expand the Newcastle Plant Growth Facility. The upgrades will improve glasshouse environments for the production of high quality plant material. This outcome will be achieved through increasing solar transmittance and more effective temperature control. Expansion will address unmet demand for standard and PC2 plant growth space. Together the infrastructure additions will enhance productivity and excellence of core areas of plant biology research at Newcastle in nutrient transport, cell development as well as environment management and rehabilitation . In addition, they will underpin new collaborative initiatives at the interfaces between plant biology with transgenic delivery of reproductive vaccines and phytoremediation.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0347607
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$306,000.00
Summary
FishWorks - collaborative infrastructure for zebrafish research. Zebrafish have emerged as a powerful and cost-effective animal model for studying development, biology, and disease. FishWorks represents a large-scale co-operative initiative to develop state-of-the-art zebrafish housing, manipulation, genomics and screening infrastructure in Australia. This will both support and further enhance a core group of high quality researchers to engage in cutting-edge research in areas of acknowledged ex ....FishWorks - collaborative infrastructure for zebrafish research. Zebrafish have emerged as a powerful and cost-effective animal model for studying development, biology, and disease. FishWorks represents a large-scale co-operative initiative to develop state-of-the-art zebrafish housing, manipulation, genomics and screening infrastructure in Australia. This will both support and further enhance a core group of high quality researchers to engage in cutting-edge research in areas of acknowledged expertise as well as priority within their respective institutions. In addition, it will facilitate wide-ranging collaborative arrangements to further develop and exploit this research area.Read moreRead less
New mechanisms regulating the biogenesis of extracellular vesicles. Extracellular vesicles are small packages that contain active components derived from the cell of origin. These vesicles, released by most cell types, are critical for communication between cells. However, the processes of their formation and release remain poorly understood. This project aims to explore how ubiquitination, a type of protein modification system, controls the production of extracellular vesicles. Using a strong c ....New mechanisms regulating the biogenesis of extracellular vesicles. Extracellular vesicles are small packages that contain active components derived from the cell of origin. These vesicles, released by most cell types, are critical for communication between cells. However, the processes of their formation and release remain poorly understood. This project aims to explore how ubiquitination, a type of protein modification system, controls the production of extracellular vesicles. Using a strong collaborative team and highly innovative approaches, the project will generate new knowledge to inform how cells communicate. Expected outcomes include knowledge of broad significance to cell biology, that can be leveraged to develop extracellular vesicles as tools for various biotechnology applications in the future.Read moreRead less
Defining how cells relay mechanical signals to changes in cell architecture. Mechanical signals play crucial roles in shaping organs and entire organisms during development, though how these signals are relayed to changes in cell architecture is a major unanswered question. Within vascular networks, mechanical signals including fluid flow, tension and stretch play key roles in vessel patterning, identity and maturation. This application aims to employ cutting-edge technologies to determine how t ....Defining how cells relay mechanical signals to changes in cell architecture. Mechanical signals play crucial roles in shaping organs and entire organisms during development, though how these signals are relayed to changes in cell architecture is a major unanswered question. Within vascular networks, mechanical signals including fluid flow, tension and stretch play key roles in vessel patterning, identity and maturation. This application aims to employ cutting-edge technologies to determine how the atypical cadherin FAT4 relays mechanical signals including flow and tension to the lymphatic endothelial cell skeleton, thereby enabling changes in cell shape important for building lymphatic vessels. This project will increase our understanding of how cells sense touch and may be applied for tissue engineering purposes.
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Mechanistic basis of a reproductive lesion in transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFb1) null mutant mice. Null mutation in the gene encoding the cytokine transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFb1) causes infertility in male and female mice. In recent experiments we have found that TGFb1 deficiency is associated with impaired ovarian and testicular steroidogenesis, arrested development of pre-implantation embryos and disrupted mammary gland morphogenesis. The aims of the current project are to un ....Mechanistic basis of a reproductive lesion in transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFb1) null mutant mice. Null mutation in the gene encoding the cytokine transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFb1) causes infertility in male and female mice. In recent experiments we have found that TGFb1 deficiency is associated with impaired ovarian and testicular steroidogenesis, arrested development of pre-implantation embryos and disrupted mammary gland morphogenesis. The aims of the current project are to unravel the mechanistic basis of the reproductive lesion in TGFb1 null mutant mice and to determine the effect of exogenous systemic delivery of TGFb1 in alleviating this lesion. It is expected that the project will provide new insight into key roles for TGFb1 in governing male and female fertility, and shed light on the prospects for exogenous supplementation of TGFb1 for improving reproductive performance in wild-type animals. This knowledge has potentially important applications in the livestock breeding industry, in devising novel contraceptive vaccine strategies, in the human pharmaceutical industry, and in devising novel contraceptive vaccine strategies.Read moreRead less
The molecular interactome and functions of circular RNAs. This project aims to identify the functions of circular RNAs, the most contemporary and enigmatic family of RNA molecules. While their abundance suggests they are important, it is unclear how they function at the molecular level. This project aims to delineate circular RNA function by systematically identifying their interacting partners at the DNA, RNA and protein levels, the so-called molecular interactome. This project will reprogram e ....The molecular interactome and functions of circular RNAs. This project aims to identify the functions of circular RNAs, the most contemporary and enigmatic family of RNA molecules. While their abundance suggests they are important, it is unclear how they function at the molecular level. This project aims to delineate circular RNA function by systematically identifying their interacting partners at the DNA, RNA and protein levels, the so-called molecular interactome. This project will reprogram embryonic stem cells to model developmental processes and is designed to validate circular RNA research. Together, the benefits include a higher-quality research workforce by mentoring students, refining fundamental tenets of RNA biology and may extend to improving health in the long-term.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453839
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$386,892.00
Summary
Adelaide Core Laser Capture Microscopy Facility. Laser Capture Microscopy represents a powerful and essential tool in many aspects of modern cell and molecular biology. Although the applications for these machines are very broad, overall the technology can be viewed as allowing collection of rare cells (or objects as small as bacteria and organelles) from complex tissues and cells. This proposal concerns infrastructure funding to obtain a state-of-the-art core Laser Capture Microscope facility ....Adelaide Core Laser Capture Microscopy Facility. Laser Capture Microscopy represents a powerful and essential tool in many aspects of modern cell and molecular biology. Although the applications for these machines are very broad, overall the technology can be viewed as allowing collection of rare cells (or objects as small as bacteria and organelles) from complex tissues and cells. This proposal concerns infrastructure funding to obtain a state-of-the-art core Laser Capture Microscope facility in Adelaide that will significantly enhance scientific progress in a diverse range of areas including functional genomics of animal, plant and prokaryotic cells.Read moreRead less