Gain from pain: new tools from venomous animals for exploring pain pathways. This project aims to explore animal venoms for new pain-causing toxins, to determine their structure and mechanism of action. Many venomous animals use their venom defensively and envenomation is frequently associated with rapid and often excruciating pain. In most cases the molecular mechanisms by which they achieve this is unknown. Using biochemical, pharmacological and biophysical techniques, this project expects to ....Gain from pain: new tools from venomous animals for exploring pain pathways. This project aims to explore animal venoms for new pain-causing toxins, to determine their structure and mechanism of action. Many venomous animals use their venom defensively and envenomation is frequently associated with rapid and often excruciating pain. In most cases the molecular mechanisms by which they achieve this is unknown. Using biochemical, pharmacological and biophysical techniques, this project expects to uncover toxins that employ new mechanisms of pain signalling, leading to new insights into pain physiology.Read moreRead less
Identification of novel biomarkers in tears for prostate cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The purpose of this study is to identify novel biomarkers in the tears of patients with CaP. The use of the several techniques will increase the chance of success and enable us to find more diagnostic markers. If successful, the identified proteins may be used to diagnose and determine the stage of cancer. This will help guide clinicians in choosing the best treatment methods for an individual patient. The m ....Identification of novel biomarkers in tears for prostate cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The purpose of this study is to identify novel biomarkers in the tears of patients with CaP. The use of the several techniques will increase the chance of success and enable us to find more diagnostic markers. If successful, the identified proteins may be used to diagnose and determine the stage of cancer. This will help guide clinicians in choosing the best treatment methods for an individual patient. The markers may also be used to monitor the disease progress and the effects of treatment. The results from this study may improve the prognosis of CaP patients.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354892
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$40,000.00
Summary
The Australian Protease Network. Proteases are pivotal enzymes during birth, life, ageing and death of all organisms. Proteases regulate most physiological processes by controlling protein activation, synthesis and turnover and are essential for replication and spread of viruses, bacteria and parasites that cause infectious diseases. Blockbuster drugs and diagnostics already target a few proteases. Australians have made innovative contributions individually to understanding and regulating these ....The Australian Protease Network. Proteases are pivotal enzymes during birth, life, ageing and death of all organisms. Proteases regulate most physiological processes by controlling protein activation, synthesis and turnover and are essential for replication and spread of viruses, bacteria and parasites that cause infectious diseases. Blockbuster drugs and diagnostics already target a few proteases. Australians have made innovative contributions individually to understanding and regulating these enzymes. However this initiative aims to network their efforts by value-adding to the current protease research through promoting national and international collaborations to improve our understanding of biology, and encourage exploitation of proteases/inhibitors/receptors for pharmaceutical and industrial applications.Read moreRead less
Ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensors. This project aims to develop novel proteins that can convert biochemical cues into electronic signals. Using protein engineering, this project will produce redox protein-based OFF switches. The project expects that the use of the OFF-switches (as opposed to ON switches) will simplify biosensor design and create a new class of sensory architectures. Integration of OFF-switch-based biosensors with an enzymatic signal amplification circuit is expected to y ....Ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensors. This project aims to develop novel proteins that can convert biochemical cues into electronic signals. Using protein engineering, this project will produce redox protein-based OFF switches. The project expects that the use of the OFF-switches (as opposed to ON switches) will simplify biosensor design and create a new class of sensory architectures. Integration of OFF-switch-based biosensors with an enzymatic signal amplification circuit is expected to yield ultrasensitive sensory systems with near-real-time response. The project will address a need for new technologies that enable collection of physiological and environmental information rapidly, and at low cost outside of the specialised laboratories.Read moreRead less
Autocyclases: A new class of self-cyclising proteins. The biotechnology sector is emerging as an important economic strength in Australia. While the improved efficacy and selectivity of biomolecules has seen them emerge as alternatives to existing chemicals in health and agriculture, the stability of biomolecules remains a major limiting factor. A general strategy for improving protein stability is by joining the ends of the peptide chain in a cyclisation reaction. While a wide range of cyclic p ....Autocyclases: A new class of self-cyclising proteins. The biotechnology sector is emerging as an important economic strength in Australia. While the improved efficacy and selectivity of biomolecules has seen them emerge as alternatives to existing chemicals in health and agriculture, the stability of biomolecules remains a major limiting factor. A general strategy for improving protein stability is by joining the ends of the peptide chain in a cyclisation reaction. While a wide range of cyclic peptides and proteins are being developed in Australia and around the world, the cyclisation reaction presents a significant challenge. In this proposal we detail a novel method for protein cyclisation as a general, low-cost and green production method for making a diverse range of biomolecules. Read moreRead less
Genetic code expansion of a eukaryotic in vitro translation system. The genetic code programs biosynthesis of polypeptides with efficiency vastly superior to chemical engineering. As the chemical diversity of natural amino acids in proteins is limited, finding ways to include “unnatural” amino acids can supercharge biology with a range of new protein activities. While the genetic code can be expanded to make space for unnatural amino acids, the rarity of free codons and reliance on prokaryotic ....Genetic code expansion of a eukaryotic in vitro translation system. The genetic code programs biosynthesis of polypeptides with efficiency vastly superior to chemical engineering. As the chemical diversity of natural amino acids in proteins is limited, finding ways to include “unnatural” amino acids can supercharge biology with a range of new protein activities. While the genetic code can be expanded to make space for unnatural amino acids, the rarity of free codons and reliance on prokaryotic organisms limit the applicability of this approach. We will develop a new higher-organism cell-free protein production system that can incorporate multiple unnatural amino acids into defined points of proteins. This, enabling and broadly applicable technology, will be tested by constructing opioid biosensors.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100784
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$373,254.00
Summary
Molecular probe development for the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors. The oxytocin and vasopressin receptors are part of a 600 million year old signalling system that is widely distributed in the kingdom of life. It is involved in many fundamental physiological functions, however we still lack a complete toolbox of selective probes to delineate the individual receptor subtypes. This project aims to introduce a novel and innovative strategy that uses state-of-the art discovery techniques to ide ....Molecular probe development for the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors. The oxytocin and vasopressin receptors are part of a 600 million year old signalling system that is widely distributed in the kingdom of life. It is involved in many fundamental physiological functions, however we still lack a complete toolbox of selective probes to delineate the individual receptor subtypes. This project aims to introduce a novel and innovative strategy that uses state-of-the art discovery techniques to identify selective ligands in nature. Leads will be developed into molecular probes to facilitate in-depth studies of this system. This strategy is applicable to other systems and the outcomes will contribute to a significant advancement of knowledge in chemical biology.Read moreRead less
Protein biosensors for detecting smoke exposure of grapes. Bush fires and controlled burns that take place in the vicinity of vineyards can lead to grape contamination with tasteless phenolic glucosides. Their hydrolysis during wine making leads to “smoke taint” – an unpleasant medicinal taste that can render wine undrinkable. We will apply a combination of organic synthesis, protein engineering and directed evolution to develop protein-based biosensors of phenolic glucosides. These biosensors w ....Protein biosensors for detecting smoke exposure of grapes. Bush fires and controlled burns that take place in the vicinity of vineyards can lead to grape contamination with tasteless phenolic glucosides. Their hydrolysis during wine making leads to “smoke taint” – an unpleasant medicinal taste that can render wine undrinkable. We will apply a combination of organic synthesis, protein engineering and directed evolution to develop protein-based biosensors of phenolic glucosides. These biosensors will be used to devise a simple portable colorimetric test that can be performed in the vineyard or the winery. The ability to rapidly determine the level of grape contamination with phenolic glucosides would give Australian wine growers and wine makers a powerful tool to mitigate the effects of bushfires.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102857
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Innovative chemical tools for the isolation, biochemical and structural analysis of biological macromolecular assemblies. This project will develop a new approach for determining the three dimensional structures of protein complexes. This project will demonstrate this approach by determining the structure of a protein complex involved in gene regulation and disease.