CD4 T cell programming by neonatal and early-life infection. T lymphocytes (T cells) are white blood cells that play a critical role in protecting the body from infection. Before T cells can function they need to be programmed so that they can specifically respond to an infectious agent (a type of bacteria or virus). Inappropriate programming can lead to disease. Whether T cells respond to an infectious agent or foreign substance in a protective or destructive manner may critically depend on the ....CD4 T cell programming by neonatal and early-life infection. T lymphocytes (T cells) are white blood cells that play a critical role in protecting the body from infection. Before T cells can function they need to be programmed so that they can specifically respond to an infectious agent (a type of bacteria or virus). Inappropriate programming can lead to disease. Whether T cells respond to an infectious agent or foreign substance in a protective or destructive manner may critically depend on the age that an individual first encounters the infection. Our project will identify critical periods in life that direct T cell programming to subsequent protective or destructive responses, providing new insights into the developing immune system that may be exploited to treat disease or develop vaccines.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100020
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$520,000.00
Summary
Collaborative high bio-containment immunological research facility. Emerging infectious diseases are a serious threat to animals and humans, with most new human infections originating in animals. Our capacity to study these infections and their effects on the immune system is limited. This Facility will provide core equipment for analysis of immune responses to infection at the highest levels of bio-containment.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989226
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$340,000.00
Summary
Multi-photon imaging for infection, immunity, and self recognition. This proposal will address a gap in our imaging capabilities, allowing us to visualise the movement of immune cells and infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses within living tissues. This will immensely improve our capacity to understand interactions between the immune system, invading organisms and the rest of our body. The intravital imaging system will provide novel insights into how the immune system works, which will ....Multi-photon imaging for infection, immunity, and self recognition. This proposal will address a gap in our imaging capabilities, allowing us to visualise the movement of immune cells and infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses within living tissues. This will immensely improve our capacity to understand interactions between the immune system, invading organisms and the rest of our body. The intravital imaging system will provide novel insights into how the immune system works, which will benefit the design of vaccines, the treatment of cancer, and our understanding of allergy. This state-of-the-art facility will also provide vital training in an emerging technology that will have application in many areas of biology.
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Development of novel vaccine delivery systems for induction of mucosal immunity in a large animal model. The induction of mucosal immune responses is a highly desirable goal in vaccine research and development, as it prevents entry of the large number of mucosal pathogens. This proposal aims to develop new mucosal vaccine delivery systems by combining intra-nasal, intra-lung and transcutaneous vaccine delivery with ISCOM-based adjuvants. The nature of the immune response will be analysed in real ....Development of novel vaccine delivery systems for induction of mucosal immunity in a large animal model. The induction of mucosal immune responses is a highly desirable goal in vaccine research and development, as it prevents entry of the large number of mucosal pathogens. This proposal aims to develop new mucosal vaccine delivery systems by combining intra-nasal, intra-lung and transcutaneous vaccine delivery with ISCOM-based adjuvants. The nature of the immune response will be analysed in real time using a sheep cannulation model. Subsequently, the efficacy of mucosal vaccination strategies will be tested in a chlamydia infection model.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100070
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,000.00
Summary
An advanced in vivo imaging facility. An advanced in vivo imaging facility: This project will establish an advanced In Vivo Imaging Facility (IVIF) for examining host-microbe interactions and associated immunological processes within the context of the numerous infectious disease models within the University of Melbourne and associated collaborators. The Zeiss LSM 7MP 2-photon imaging system will provide enhanced capacity to directly visualise cellular and molecular events in real time, with gre ....An advanced in vivo imaging facility. An advanced in vivo imaging facility: This project will establish an advanced In Vivo Imaging Facility (IVIF) for examining host-microbe interactions and associated immunological processes within the context of the numerous infectious disease models within the University of Melbourne and associated collaborators. The Zeiss LSM 7MP 2-photon imaging system will provide enhanced capacity to directly visualise cellular and molecular events in real time, with greater sensitivity and in a broader range of tissues and organs. This will provide the opportunity for novel insights into numerous immunological and host-microbe interactions.Read moreRead less
Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 5: a novel regulator of T cell immunity. T cells provide critical immune protection against infection and cancer. However, the pathways that regulate these immune cells are not fully understood. T cells express a molecule called S1P5 that has an unknown function in these cells. In this proposal, we reveal new evidence that this molecule is an unappreciated and crucial regulator of T cell behaviour. Using state-of-the-art techniques and novel genetic tools, this p ....Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 5: a novel regulator of T cell immunity. T cells provide critical immune protection against infection and cancer. However, the pathways that regulate these immune cells are not fully understood. T cells express a molecule called S1P5 that has an unknown function in these cells. In this proposal, we reveal new evidence that this molecule is an unappreciated and crucial regulator of T cell behaviour. Using state-of-the-art techniques and novel genetic tools, this project aims to discover the involvement of S1P5 in the immune response, and determine how S1P5 can be controlled to enhance protective T cell immunity. The expected outcomes are to generate fundamental new knowledge that will have significance for regulation of the immune response. Read moreRead less
New guardians of the mucosa: Molecular characterisation of M cell biology. We aim to completely define the cellular and molecular biology of gut and lung M cells for the first time. We will elucidate how they develop, are regulated and function at a molecular level, and how M cells maintain normal gut and lung tissues and induce immune responses to protect against microbial challenges. In the future, the new insights will be essential pre-requisites for the development of mucosal-based intervent ....New guardians of the mucosa: Molecular characterisation of M cell biology. We aim to completely define the cellular and molecular biology of gut and lung M cells for the first time. We will elucidate how they develop, are regulated and function at a molecular level, and how M cells maintain normal gut and lung tissues and induce immune responses to protect against microbial challenges. In the future, the new insights will be essential pre-requisites for the development of mucosal-based interventions and vaccines that protect the gut and lung from infectious and inflammatory issues. The harnessing of effective immune responses to control such challenges, are of enormous fundamental and long-standing biological interest, and are amongst the most important areas of current scientific research.Read moreRead less
Understanding the life and death of Mucosal-associated invariant T cells. Cell death of naïve T cells in lymphoid organs is well-understood. However, T cells only gain their function upon activation, and how activated T cells regulate their life or death remains unclear. Mucosal-associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are abundant in non-lymphoid tissues as key local players in immunity, and share some features of activated conventional T cells. This project aims to define how MAIT cell survival and ....Understanding the life and death of Mucosal-associated invariant T cells. Cell death of naïve T cells in lymphoid organs is well-understood. However, T cells only gain their function upon activation, and how activated T cells regulate their life or death remains unclear. Mucosal-associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are abundant in non-lymphoid tissues as key local players in immunity, and share some features of activated conventional T cells. This project aims to define how MAIT cell survival and death are controlled. It combines methods we developed to track MAIT cells in vivo with expertise in cell death analysis. This project is expected to elucidate the complex mechanisms controlling MAIT cell survival/death and increase our fundamental understanding of cell death mechanisms of activated T cells.Read moreRead less
Understanding Pathogenicity And Immunity In An Encephalitic Mouse Model Of Hendra Virus Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$572,342.00
Summary
Our understanding of Hendra virus infection and immunity is extremely limited and has been hampered by a lack of appropriate animal models of disease and reagents. This Project will employ a newly-established mouse model to study encephalitis, the most life-threatening manifestation of this infection. We will use unique, state-of-the-art infrastructure and a plethora of mouse-specific reagents to investigate the mechanisms involved in regulating the host response to infection.