Innovations in peptide-based drug design. This project will aim to develop new types of drugs that fill a gap between existing small molecule drugs, which are relatively inexpensive and stable, but often have side-effects, and biologics which are very expensive and require injection. Our new generation of peptide-based drugs promise to be applicable to diseases that are not treatable by current drugs.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100218
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$840,000.00
Summary
A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility for Modern Molecular Analysis. A nuclear magnetic resonance facility for modern molecular analysis:
This project aims to network a new 500 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer and new consoles for existing instruments with an automated sample changer for a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer. This designed to increase the capacity of Queensland-based researchers to undertake state-of-the-art studies in chemistry, drug design, and materials science. The ne ....A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility for Modern Molecular Analysis. A nuclear magnetic resonance facility for modern molecular analysis:
This project aims to network a new 500 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer and new consoles for existing instruments with an automated sample changer for a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer. This designed to increase the capacity of Queensland-based researchers to undertake state-of-the-art studies in chemistry, drug design, and materials science. The new knowledge from these studies may lead to the development of new drugs, new crop protection agents and new photovoltaic materials. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120103152
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Development of next generation drugs against Helicobacter pylori. Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the world and infection by Helicobacter pylori bacteria is the main cause of this disease. The aim of this project is to develop new approaches to treat Helicobacter pylori infection that will give superior results and lower side effects than available therapies.
New methods for the chemical synthesis of a library of glycopeptide-based tri-component cancer vaccines. A novel method for the synthesis of tumour-associated glycopeptides will be developed in this research as well as the preparation of a library of glycopeptide-based cancer vaccines. These vaccines will be tested in immunological studies with a view to elucidating new immune-based therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101632
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
Development of Innovative Chemical Tools for Studying Glycosyltransferases . This project aims to develop chemical probes capable of selectively binding and inhibiting two classes of carbohydrate processing enzymes known as O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine transferase and sialyltransferases. These enzymes are overexpressed in various cancers and play critical roles in cancer progression. Probes will be developed to analyse the activities of these enzymes in cancer cells.
Development of effective peptide-based drugs. There is huge interest in the development of bioactive peptides and proteins for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. The aim of this research project is to develop potent and effective peptide-based drugs that are able to resist the body's natural degradation pathways so that they can reach their biological target and act as effective drugs.
Grafted peptide constructs - a new platform for delivering stable bioactive peptides. The project will develop a new strategy to overcome the lack of bioavailability of peptides. The project will design an effective drug delivery vehicle and facilitate drug development as highly active peptides will become attractive drug targets.
Molecular Interactions with an antibiotic target in DNA replication. This project aims to develop and use new technologies to address mechanistic aspects of anti-bacterial compounds in development, and of the development of resistance to them. The project will focus on the sliding clamp subunit of the bacterial replicative polymerase by studying its association with many other proteins in vitro and in vivo, using novel techniques in solid-state NMR, single-molecule fluorescence and molecular mic ....Molecular Interactions with an antibiotic target in DNA replication. This project aims to develop and use new technologies to address mechanistic aspects of anti-bacterial compounds in development, and of the development of resistance to them. The project will focus on the sliding clamp subunit of the bacterial replicative polymerase by studying its association with many other proteins in vitro and in vivo, using novel techniques in solid-state NMR, single-molecule fluorescence and molecular microbiology. The outcomes are expected to be an increased understanding of bacterial DNA replication and mechanisms of antibiotic action and resistance. This project expects to generate new knowledge to assist in combatting antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacterial pathogens.Read moreRead less
New peptide ligation technology for the rapid assembly of modified proteins. The project aims to develop novel technologies to enable the synthesis of modified proteins that are of widespread biological and therapeutic interest. More than 70 per cent of all human proteins are modified with a range of functionalities after translation from the ribosome. Although these modifications are of crucial importance for biological activity, characterising the effect of a given modification on function is ....New peptide ligation technology for the rapid assembly of modified proteins. The project aims to develop novel technologies to enable the synthesis of modified proteins that are of widespread biological and therapeutic interest. More than 70 per cent of all human proteins are modified with a range of functionalities after translation from the ribosome. Although these modifications are of crucial importance for biological activity, characterising the effect of a given modification on function is difficult due to problems in obtaining the protein in pure form. The goal of this project is to develop a peptide ligation methodology to access pure modified proteins in a rapid manner through the exploitation of a new reaction recently discovered in our laboratory. The project plans to explore the scope and mechanism of the new reaction as well as its application in the total chemical synthesis and structure-function studies of important modified proteins.Read moreRead less
Fine-tuning the conformations of cyclic peptides: a paradigm for optimising synthetic efficiency and biological activity. This proposal develops a strategy for optimising the synthesis and properties of an important class of drug molecules known as cyclic peptides. Such molecules show great promise as therapeutic agents, but they can be very difficult to synthesise and their three-dimensional shapes can be difficult to control. This project simultaneously addresses both of these problems, by exp ....Fine-tuning the conformations of cyclic peptides: a paradigm for optimising synthetic efficiency and biological activity. This proposal develops a strategy for optimising the synthesis and properties of an important class of drug molecules known as cyclic peptides. Such molecules show great promise as therapeutic agents, but they can be very difficult to synthesise and their three-dimensional shapes can be difficult to control. This project simultaneously addresses both of these problems, by exploiting a series of unusual amino acid building blocks that have a variety of shapes and different levels of conformational flexibility. This strategy will enable the development of a wide variety of therapeutically-relevant cyclic peptides, and to exemplify this concept a panel of cyclic peptides will be created that are specifically targeted for activity against solid tumours.Read moreRead less