Scabies Mite Intestinal Proteases As Targets For Novel Therapeutics.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$672,533.00
Summary
Scabies causes bacterial disease affecting poor people worldwide. Available therapies are limited and drug resistance is emerging. We investigate molecules that the mite needs to infest the skin, to guide the formulation and the testing of novel drugs. This will provide improved treatment of affected individuals and their families, thereby reducing the spread of scabies and bacterial infections and their devastating sequelae, particularly in Australian Indigenous communities.
Effector Export In P. Falciparum Infected Human Erythrocytes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,066,920.00
Summary
We will investigate malaria, a parasitic disease that kills over 450,000 people a year. We will explore how the parasite identifies, invades and remodels the host cells in which it lives, scavenging nutrients and hiding from the immune system. We will characterize the proteins involved in these critical events, as they are potential targets for drugs. We will study how parasites cause disease and how the host responds to infection.
Haemoglobin Degrading Proteases As Targets Of Anti-hookworm Vaccines
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$522,773.00
Summary
Blood-feeding worms ingest red blood cells and disrupt them in the intestine, releasing haemogobin (Hb). We have recently shown that canine hookworms employ a battery of distinct proteolytic enzymes, termed haemoglobinases, which digest Hb. The families of proteases used and the order in which they act are strikingly similar to the defined catalytic pathway used by the malaria parasite to digest Hb in its food vacuole. Recent work from our laboratory has shown that these proteases are effective ....Blood-feeding worms ingest red blood cells and disrupt them in the intestine, releasing haemogobin (Hb). We have recently shown that canine hookworms employ a battery of distinct proteolytic enzymes, termed haemoglobinases, which digest Hb. The families of proteases used and the order in which they act are strikingly similar to the defined catalytic pathway used by the malaria parasite to digest Hb in its food vacuole. Recent work from our laboratory has shown that these proteases are effective as vaccines against canine hookworm disease by interfering with the worm's ability to feed on blood and obtain suitable nutrition. This in turn affects the ability of female worms to lay eggs, thereby potentially disrupting transmission of the parasites. We now propose to identify the genes encoding haemoglobinases from the human hookworm, Necator americanus, determine the ordered pathway of Hb degradation and explore in vitro correlates of the effectiveness of a haemoglobinase vaccine in animal models of hookworm infection and pathogenesis.Read moreRead less