Targeting Inflammatory Skin Disease Using An Immune-modulatory Human Signal Peptide
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$698,836.00
Summary
Effective drugs are desperately needed for the improved treatment of inflammatory diseases. We will determine how a modified human peptide, which we have discovered and can make, works to suppress harmful skin inflammation. We will design new formulations to deliver our drug to the skin in order to better treat psoriasis, an autoinflammatory skin disease. We will also trial our new drug in models of atopic dermatitis a debilitating skin disease for which there is limited treatment options.
We are studying human amnion epithelial cells (AECs) as a new therapy for stroke. Here if we find the protective effects of AECs are unaffected by a 'clot-buster' drug,we will broaden our planned Phase II trial of AECs to include patients that have received clot lysis therapy. Further, as we suspect that AECs exert their effects via release of nanoparticles called 'exosomes', we will test whether exosomes given intravenously or intranasally are similarly protective.
Interferon Epsilon As A Novel Regulator Of Host-bacterial Interaction In Homeostasis, Infection And Inflammation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$843,088.00
Summary
Gut infections are a leading cause of death worldwide and healthcare use in Australia. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is incurable and affects 1/200 young Australians. Type I interferons (T1IFNs) are important to control gut infections and IBD by interacting with particular bacterial species in the gut. We discovered one T1IFN, IFNε, in human gut. It protects against models of IBD in mice. We will use mouse and human samples to find bacterial or interferon treatments for infections and/or IBD.
Deadly Commute - Targeting The Trafficking Mechanisms That Licence Inflammatory Cell Death
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$774,544.00
Summary
MLKL is a protein naturally found inside cells. MLKL is activated by inflammation. Once activated, MLKL relocates to the outer periphery of cells and kills them. Gut cells are especially vulnerable to death-by-MLKL and this problem causes Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Using cutting edge microscopy, we have discovered how MLKL moves to the periphery of cells prior to killing them. We will test if blocking this movement of MLKL to the cell periphery stops gut death and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
HTLV-1 is a lifelong infection of immune cells that sustains high infection rates up to 45% in key Australian communities. Despite HTLV-1 causing serious malignancy and inflammatory co-morbidities that shorten lifespan, few biomedical interventions are available. We will examine how the virus grows and alters immune responses to cause disease. With this, we can develop antiviral treatments to reduce virus infected cells, and make new diagnostic biomarker assays suitable for remote settings.
Strain-level Characterisation And Visualisation Of The Mucosal Microbial Communities Associated With Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) For The Development Of Novel Biotherapeutics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,181,878.00
Summary
Australia has one of the highest incidence rates in the world of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a debilitating inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Cutting-edge molecular and visualisation technologies will be used to examine the role of the gut microbiome in IBD, and identify specific members of this community to be used as new therapies to suppress inflammation and improve outcomes for patients with IBD.