Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560987
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$156,697.00
Summary
Robust High Resolution Gene and Protein Expression Analysis Facilities in WA. Biological research is playing an increasingly important role in keeping agriculture internationally competitive and helping to unravel the basic mechanisms underpinning plant and animal health. This collaborative research equipment will greatly enhance and extend our existing functional genomic facilities in WA, allowing robust pre-fractionation of samples for directed proteomic analysis within complex systems and al ....Robust High Resolution Gene and Protein Expression Analysis Facilities in WA. Biological research is playing an increasingly important role in keeping agriculture internationally competitive and helping to unravel the basic mechanisms underpinning plant and animal health. This collaborative research equipment will greatly enhance and extend our existing functional genomic facilities in WA, allowing robust pre-fractionation of samples for directed proteomic analysis within complex systems and allowing accurate and sensitive measurement of gene expression. Both of these are critical for analysis of low abundance components involved in signalling and regulatory functions in biological samples.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453722
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,240.00
Summary
Collaborative Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility for Western Australia. Plant and animal agriculture in Western Australia contributes $6billion per annum to the nation. Biotechnology is playing an increasingly important role in keeping agriculture internationally competitive, and requires investment in platform technologies to underpin basic and applied research. This collaborative project will provide state-of-the-art equipment and extend existing joint facilities that will enable ....Collaborative Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility for Western Australia. Plant and animal agriculture in Western Australia contributes $6billion per annum to the nation. Biotechnology is playing an increasingly important role in keeping agriculture internationally competitive, and requires investment in platform technologies to underpin basic and applied research. This collaborative project will provide state-of-the-art equipment and extend existing joint facilities that will enable WA researchers to carry out high quality research on genomics, proteomics and the metabolic functioning of plants and animals. This will generate new knowledge, provide advanced training and help ensure that Australian R&D in agricultural biotechnology stays at the forefront and benefits the nation.Read moreRead less
Signaling Pathways To Enhance Potency Of AMPK-targeting Drugs
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$661,966.00
Summary
Sedentary lifestyles and consumption of high energy foods has led to epidemics of obesity-related metabolic diseases that place enormous financial and medical burden on the Australian economy. An attractive drug target to treat these diseases is AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) which functions as both a cellular fuel gauge and co-ordinator of whole-body metabolism. Our goal is to improve AMPK drug potency by identifying novel processes that sensitize AMPK to drugs.
Matching Supply And Demand: How Does Metabolism Fine-tune Signal Transduction?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$316,449.00
Summary
Insulin controls nutrient traffic and disrupting its actions are linked to many diseases: type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease. Here, I will test a novel hypothesis that our cells’ metabolic rate, defined by the balance between nutrient supply and energy expenditure, controls how cells respond to insulin. These metabolic regulatory nodes would play a major determinant of many essential functions linked to human health, and thus provide novel therapeutic targets for numerous diseases.
Oxidative Damage and Cell Ageing. This research will benefit Australia by providing a fundamental understanding of how cells age. This will have immediate international impact at the scientific level and will inform strategies to reduce the rate of ageing and alleviation of age-related disorders. In the longer term the research may provide commercial and social outcomes by identifying antioxidant systems that will provide a genuine benefit in reducing ageing.
Identifying The Critical Components Of Growth Factor-mediated Survival Pathways
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$589,338.00
Summary
The regulation of cell lifespan (cell survival) is controlled by growth factors and lies at the heart of all biological processes. However, little is known of the molecular switches inside cells that either turn survival on or off. We propose to identify and characterize the molecular switches inside cells that control the balance between cell survival and death. Targeting specific components of these switches may provide new approaches for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.
Cellular Responses to Oxidative Damage: Cell Aging. The aim of this project is to identify the mechanisms by which oxidative stress and free radical damage cause cell aging. This work will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the aging process in cells by identifying the major reactive oxygen species that contribute to cell aging, which defence systems and antioxidants provide the greatest degree of protection, what damage accumulates as cells age and which genetic systems ar ....Cellular Responses to Oxidative Damage: Cell Aging. The aim of this project is to identify the mechanisms by which oxidative stress and free radical damage cause cell aging. This work will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the aging process in cells by identifying the major reactive oxygen species that contribute to cell aging, which defence systems and antioxidants provide the greatest degree of protection, what damage accumulates as cells age and which genetic systems are activated as during the process.Read moreRead less
Regulation of lipolysis: new players, new paradigms. The way in which fat is broken down is poorly understood. This research will determine how important proteins in fat breakdown are turned on and off. By understanding this relationship, effective pharmaceutical treatments will be developed that will enhance the capacity to burn fat and ultimately reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and ease the associated financial burden on the community and healthcare system. ....Regulation of lipolysis: new players, new paradigms. The way in which fat is broken down is poorly understood. This research will determine how important proteins in fat breakdown are turned on and off. By understanding this relationship, effective pharmaceutical treatments will be developed that will enhance the capacity to burn fat and ultimately reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and ease the associated financial burden on the community and healthcare system. Understanding fat breakdown is also important for developing new processing technologies in the food industry.Read moreRead less
Molecular basis of skeletal muscle lipoapoptosis. High levels of fat in cells are associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes, medical conditions that have increased dramatically in prevalence in Australia. High fat levels in cells also causes cell death. This research will determine the mechanisms by which excessive fat storage leads to cell death and whether this leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. By understanding this relationship, effective pharmaceutical treatments will be dev ....Molecular basis of skeletal muscle lipoapoptosis. High levels of fat in cells are associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes, medical conditions that have increased dramatically in prevalence in Australia. High fat levels in cells also causes cell death. This research will determine the mechanisms by which excessive fat storage leads to cell death and whether this leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. By understanding this relationship, effective pharmaceutical treatments will be developed that will ultimately reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes, and ease the associated financial burden on the community and healthcare system.Read moreRead less
The effect of nitrogen monoxide on intracellular iron metabolism. We discovered that the crucial signalling molecule nitrogen monoxide (NO) mediates iron (Fe) and glutathione (GSH) release by the transporter MRP1 probably as an NO-Fe-GSH complex [DR(2006) PNAS USA 103:7670-5]. During our current ARC grant we have markedly extended these findings by showing that another molecule, GST Pi and MRP1 form part of a coordinated system that stores and transports NO as complexes of Fe and GSH, markedly e ....The effect of nitrogen monoxide on intracellular iron metabolism. We discovered that the crucial signalling molecule nitrogen monoxide (NO) mediates iron (Fe) and glutathione (GSH) release by the transporter MRP1 probably as an NO-Fe-GSH complex [DR(2006) PNAS USA 103:7670-5]. During our current ARC grant we have markedly extended these findings by showing that another molecule, GST Pi and MRP1 form part of a coordinated system that stores and transports NO as complexes of Fe and GSH, markedly extending NO half-life from milliseconds to hours. This has broad implications for understanding NO activity in many processes which have major vital health implications, including tumour cell killing by macrophages and blood pressure control.Read moreRead less