Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types o ....Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types of tissues being generated for clinical applications, including possible applications in the treatment of heart disease, the largest killer of people in the Western world. Read moreRead less
Pancreatic Differentiation of Cord Blood Stem Cells using Smart Surfaces. Cord blood cells obtained at the time of delivery of a baby are a valuable resource that have the potential to develop into many cell types. This Project entails attaching stem cells derived from cord blood to appropriate 3 dimensional smart surfaces, and examining the ability of such cells to develop into insulin-producing cells. An understanding of how to coax stem cells, seeded on to smart surfaces, to develop into ma ....Pancreatic Differentiation of Cord Blood Stem Cells using Smart Surfaces. Cord blood cells obtained at the time of delivery of a baby are a valuable resource that have the potential to develop into many cell types. This Project entails attaching stem cells derived from cord blood to appropriate 3 dimensional smart surfaces, and examining the ability of such cells to develop into insulin-producing cells. An understanding of how to coax stem cells, seeded on to smart surfaces, to develop into mature cells with different functions will enhance our ability to understand how cells develop. As well, it enhance the potential usefulness of cord blood for research purposes. Read moreRead less
Biomolecular surface interactions with smart biomaterials. Current materials used for medical implants are often recognised by the body as foreign materials causing implant rejection or encapsulation. Research into the interactions between biological molecules and chemically and topographically modified materials will aid in the development of new materials and devices that optimise the body's response to the implanted material. The new materials and surfaces developed from this research will pr ....Biomolecular surface interactions with smart biomaterials. Current materials used for medical implants are often recognised by the body as foreign materials causing implant rejection or encapsulation. Research into the interactions between biological molecules and chemically and topographically modified materials will aid in the development of new materials and devices that optimise the body's response to the implanted material. The new materials and surfaces developed from this research will provide longer lasting implants and reduce the need for repeated operations. This will improve the quality of life for implant recipients and reduce health care costs.Read moreRead less
Proteomic and Transcriptional Profiling of Cartilage. Gene expression and signalling pathways that regulate cartilage formation, and its orderly transition to bone, are poorly described. Our studies will, for the first time, combine two complementary cutting-edge approaches, protein identification by proteomic analysis, and mRNA profiling by microarray analysis, to define these pathways and develop a comprehensive catalogue of proteins and gene expression patterns during cartilage development a ....Proteomic and Transcriptional Profiling of Cartilage. Gene expression and signalling pathways that regulate cartilage formation, and its orderly transition to bone, are poorly described. Our studies will, for the first time, combine two complementary cutting-edge approaches, protein identification by proteomic analysis, and mRNA profiling by microarray analysis, to define these pathways and develop a comprehensive catalogue of proteins and gene expression patterns during cartilage development and bone formation. This information will provide insight into the regulation of cartilage differentiation, maturation and structure, and will provide a critical platform for the development of more sophisticated cartilage and bone biomaterials for improved tissue repair and regeneration.Read moreRead less
Predicting cell wall mechanics from structure in a materials engineering approach to plant growth. The project fosters a novel, interdisciplinary approach to understanding how the structure of plant cell walls determines their mechanical properties. Such understanding requires combining biological and engineering approaches and will illuminate how plants grow and produce cells and organs with particular shapes. This is scientifically important but is also important for industries depending on sp ....Predicting cell wall mechanics from structure in a materials engineering approach to plant growth. The project fosters a novel, interdisciplinary approach to understanding how the structure of plant cell walls determines their mechanical properties. Such understanding requires combining biological and engineering approaches and will illuminate how plants grow and produce cells and organs with particular shapes. This is scientifically important but is also important for industries depending on specialised cell shapes such as those of cotton and wood fibres. Our work will improve our understanding of how wall structure determines fibre and other cell shapes and give us tools which can be used to understand how final wall structure determines the fibre mechanics on which industrial users depend. Read moreRead less
Characterization and optimisation of Myomatrix: A novel extracellular matrix hydrogel from muscle. This project would have several sources of benefit for the community. Foremost we will have produced a product that will have a strong commercial application in several fields including basic science and bioengineering. If its full potential were achieved, the development of this innovative new hydrogel would strengthen Australia's standing in the biotechnology field and also enrich specific applic ....Characterization and optimisation of Myomatrix: A novel extracellular matrix hydrogel from muscle. This project would have several sources of benefit for the community. Foremost we will have produced a product that will have a strong commercial application in several fields including basic science and bioengineering. If its full potential were achieved, the development of this innovative new hydrogel would strengthen Australia's standing in the biotechnology field and also enrich specific applications. The knowledge gained from the characterization of this product could also be of benefit to several areas including chemical engineering, tissue engineering, tissue repair, polymer chemistry and food manufacture. The expertise generated and the possibility of collaboration, both academic and with industry would also benefit the community. Read moreRead less
Mimetics and small chemical compounds for hemopoietic stem cell mobilisation. This project will result in the design and synthesis of new chemical compounds that could be used clinically to help collect blood stem cells for bone marrow transplantation. For patients this will mean more effective and less painful ways to collect stem cells and better transplant outcomes. There is a large, ongoing international market for this type of drug and likelihood of significant financial benefit.
Functional characterisation of neurons derived from embryonic stem cells and NS cells. The ability to obtain specific neurons from NS cells will revolutionise the study of nerve function, will allow the establishment of much-improved models for discovery of new drugs, and will define how enriched populations of neural cells can be obtained for applications in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The project will provide vital data for the emerging biotechnology industry associated will appl ....Functional characterisation of neurons derived from embryonic stem cells and NS cells. The ability to obtain specific neurons from NS cells will revolutionise the study of nerve function, will allow the establishment of much-improved models for discovery of new drugs, and will define how enriched populations of neural cells can be obtained for applications in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The project will provide vital data for the emerging biotechnology industry associated will applications of stem cell biology, and will stimulate clinical researchers to investigate the therapeutic potential of cell derived from NS cells.Read moreRead less
Neurons isolated from embryonic stem cells as functional models for drug discovery. By using gene expression-based selection criteria embryonic stem cells can be driven to differentiate into specific neuronal lineages which show many of the morphological characteristics and immunocytochemical features of neurons in culture. There is, however, comparatively little evidence indicating that these stem cell-derived neurons actually behave as neurons. Our aim is to characterise and contrast four ne ....Neurons isolated from embryonic stem cells as functional models for drug discovery. By using gene expression-based selection criteria embryonic stem cells can be driven to differentiate into specific neuronal lineages which show many of the morphological characteristics and immunocytochemical features of neurons in culture. There is, however, comparatively little evidence indicating that these stem cell-derived neurons actually behave as neurons. Our aim is to characterise and contrast four neuronal cell cultures established with gene-based selection criteria. These cultures will be characterised by gene expression, immunocytochemistry, radiolabelled neurotransmitter release, electrophysiology and Ca2+ imaging studies. This study will highlight the functional effects of gene selection procedures upon stem cell-derived neurons.Read moreRead less
Endosomal Protein Transport: From Molecular Structures to Biological Function. Intracellular transport of biomolecules through the endosomal organelle is critical for normal cellular processes such as signalling, homoeostasis and development. Defects in this fundamental process and subversion of it by bacterial and viral pathogens also lead to many different human diseases. This project will build on Australia's strong programme of structural and cellular biology research to develop key insights ....Endosomal Protein Transport: From Molecular Structures to Biological Function. Intracellular transport of biomolecules through the endosomal organelle is critical for normal cellular processes such as signalling, homoeostasis and development. Defects in this fundamental process and subversion of it by bacterial and viral pathogens also lead to many different human diseases. This project will build on Australia's strong programme of structural and cellular biology research to develop key insights into endosomal trafficking at the molecular level. Outcomes from this work will place Australia at the forefront of international efforts to understand this essential biological process and will have important implications for future design of pharmaceuticals.Read moreRead less