Regulating calcium handling in skeletal muscle - implications for muscle contraction, injury and repair, ageing and development. Understanding the mechanisms regulating calcium in skeletal muscle has important relevance for studying muscle growth and development, injury and repair, and for identifying therapeutic targets and potential therapies for ageing-related disorders, reconstructive surgery, sporting and workplace injuries, and muscle diseases. Combining cell physiology, fluorescence micro ....Regulating calcium handling in skeletal muscle - implications for muscle contraction, injury and repair, ageing and development. Understanding the mechanisms regulating calcium in skeletal muscle has important relevance for studying muscle growth and development, injury and repair, and for identifying therapeutic targets and potential therapies for ageing-related disorders, reconstructive surgery, sporting and workplace injuries, and muscle diseases. Combining cell physiology, fluorescence microscopy and digital imaging technologies for studying multicellular tissues such as skeletal muscle will enhance the international competitiveness of Australian biological research. The research will optimise development of gene delivery systems that may find eventual application for muscle wasting disorders and conditions where muscle weakness compromises quality of life.Read moreRead less
Fluid Dynamics of Circulation: Focus on the Kidney. In Australia, about 30% of adults have hypertension, a major risk factor for heart disease, accounting for about 40% of all deaths. Problems in renal circulation are likely factors leading to hypertension. A detailed understanding of the renal circulation, of whose hydraulic characteristics we have limited knowledge, is required before we can cure or prevent hypertension. We will determine how the size, structure and geometry of the blood vesse ....Fluid Dynamics of Circulation: Focus on the Kidney. In Australia, about 30% of adults have hypertension, a major risk factor for heart disease, accounting for about 40% of all deaths. Problems in renal circulation are likely factors leading to hypertension. A detailed understanding of the renal circulation, of whose hydraulic characteristics we have limited knowledge, is required before we can cure or prevent hypertension. We will determine how the size, structure and geometry of the blood vessels influence the function of the kidney. This will lead to predictive models to aid the design and interpretation of physiological studies and the combat of hypertension. It will also help in the ongoing development of bioartificial kidneys to replace present dialysis systems. Read moreRead less
Transduction of neuronal signals by brain macroglial cells: implications for neuronal function. Study of mechanisms regulating brain cell (neuron and glial) communication is essential for understanding of normal brain function and transformations that occur in neurodegenerative states and age-related disorders. Mechanisms underlying neuron-glia communication are not well understood. By combining cell physiology, digital imaging technologies, and genetically designed and delivered molecules we w ....Transduction of neuronal signals by brain macroglial cells: implications for neuronal function. Study of mechanisms regulating brain cell (neuron and glial) communication is essential for understanding of normal brain function and transformations that occur in neurodegenerative states and age-related disorders. Mechanisms underlying neuron-glia communication are not well understood. By combining cell physiology, digital imaging technologies, and genetically designed and delivered molecules we will enhance our understanding of this brain cell communication and critical roles played by intracellular calcium. This will enhance international competitiveness of Australian biological research and provide novel insight of glial function in neurodegeneration and potential for specific therapeutic intervention in disease.Read moreRead less
Natriuretic peptide hormones and the stress response of fish. There are two main benefits of our research to Australia. Firstly, the team that we have assembled have international reputations, and include scientists from overseas. This team will be led by Australian Institutions and will put Australian science in the forefront of a competitive field, internationally. Secondly, our research examines questions that are critical in our understanding of how animals respond to stressful events. T ....Natriuretic peptide hormones and the stress response of fish. There are two main benefits of our research to Australia. Firstly, the team that we have assembled have international reputations, and include scientists from overseas. This team will be led by Australian Institutions and will put Australian science in the forefront of a competitive field, internationally. Secondly, our research examines questions that are critical in our understanding of how animals respond to stressful events. The response to stress, if excessive, leads to ill-health in both humans and other animals. Our research examines new connections between stress and fish biology, which could lead to discoveries that are valuable in managing stress and health in wild and farmed fishes.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668435
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,300,000.00
Summary
Biomedical Engineering Sensing and Imaging Facility. The sensing and imaging facility will be the only national facility for leading engineering and medical researchers to undertake multidiscipline research into live and model biological systems. The facility will capture and combine existing strengths in these fields in Melbourne. This will provide new insights into the physiology of human, animal and plant systems and the development of preventive and curative strategies for disease.
Optimised distributed stimulation of muscle. The project aims to extend to humans, a method of producing a non-fatiguing, smooth, submaximal muscle contraction. The method using multiple electrodes, stimulated at different times, with those times being adjusted for optimum smoothness at low stimulation rates. This will enable the gathering of information about the mechanics of muscle undergoing near physiological contractions, which will be of interest to researchers in Biomechanics. It will ....Optimised distributed stimulation of muscle. The project aims to extend to humans, a method of producing a non-fatiguing, smooth, submaximal muscle contraction. The method using multiple electrodes, stimulated at different times, with those times being adjusted for optimum smoothness at low stimulation rates. This will enable the gathering of information about the mechanics of muscle undergoing near physiological contractions, which will be of interest to researchers in Biomechanics. It will also be a step towards the restoration of function to spinal cord injured patients.Read moreRead less
Transforming drug screening technology. Transforming drug screening technology. This project aims to develop field-leading microchip technology, including the ability to measure contraction of micro-tissues on a chip. Micro-chip technology is in its infancy for use in drug discovery. However, interest in development and applications in Pharma and Biotech industries is immense. The project is intended to take proof-of-concept studies through to the “working model” stage and then to a level of ind ....Transforming drug screening technology. Transforming drug screening technology. This project aims to develop field-leading microchip technology, including the ability to measure contraction of micro-tissues on a chip. Micro-chip technology is in its infancy for use in drug discovery. However, interest in development and applications in Pharma and Biotech industries is immense. The project is intended to take proof-of-concept studies through to the “working model” stage and then to a level of industry-utility, focussing on predictive value, reproducibility and throughput. Successful development of the drug discovery micro-fluidics chip is expected to improve efficiency, reduce the costs and the use of experimental animals.Read moreRead less
Drug targets in the relict plastid of malaria parasites. Malaria is a major world health problem and new drugs are needed urgently. Essential genes are potentially excellent targets for anti-malarial drugs. This project will use a novel strategy to identify genes that the parasite cannot exist without. Function and drug potential of these genes will be explored.
Regulation of large artery stiffness by endothelium-derived mediators and effects on the arterial pressure waveform. Stiffening of arteries is an important cardiovascular risk factor and increases with age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Cells that line the blood vessels (endothelial cells), become damaged and this reduces the available amount of a dilator substance, nitric oxide, and increases the activity of a constrictor substance, endothelin-1. We have shown that nitric ....Regulation of large artery stiffness by endothelium-derived mediators and effects on the arterial pressure waveform. Stiffening of arteries is an important cardiovascular risk factor and increases with age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Cells that line the blood vessels (endothelial cells), become damaged and this reduces the available amount of a dilator substance, nitric oxide, and increases the activity of a constrictor substance, endothelin-1. We have shown that nitric oxide regulates large artery stiffness and we believe that other endothelial mediators are also important regulators. Therefore, we aim to explore this in a series of studies. Regulation of stiffness of large arteries will improve treatment of age-related cardiovascular disease (eg isolated systolic hypertension)Read moreRead less
Mechanisms of zinc transport and homeostasis in plants. Zinc deficiency is a widespread factor limiting crop production and affects many soils of southern Australia and around the world. Genetic techniques can be used to identify zinc-efficient crop breeds able to grow well under zinc deficient conditions and able to efficiently deliver zinc to cereal grains to alleviate nutritional zinc-deficiency in humans. This project will identify new genes important in zinc transport and homeostasis in pla ....Mechanisms of zinc transport and homeostasis in plants. Zinc deficiency is a widespread factor limiting crop production and affects many soils of southern Australia and around the world. Genetic techniques can be used to identify zinc-efficient crop breeds able to grow well under zinc deficient conditions and able to efficiently deliver zinc to cereal grains to alleviate nutritional zinc-deficiency in humans. This project will identify new genes important in zinc transport and homeostasis in plants and will ultimately allow their role in zinc efficient crops to be assessed. This will contribute to more rapid and directed strategies in breeding zinc efficient crops.Read moreRead less