A Multi-protein Vaccine Targeting The Oral Pathogens Associated With Chronic Periodontitis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$717,692.00
Summary
Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with specific bacteria leading to the destruction of the toothÍs supporting tissues and ultimately tooth loss and is a major public health problem in all societies. Our research is focused on designing a vaccine that targets the major bacteria associated with periodontitis. We aim to produce a triple antigen vaccine and investigate the applicability of a vaccine administered under the tongue as an alternative to needle injections.
Defining Pathogenic Mechanisms Of Intracellular Bacteria
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$494,691.00
Summary
This study explores how the bacterium Coxiella burnetii causes the serious infectious disease Q fever. Coxiella is a potential biological weapon because it is very stable in the environment and few organisms are required to cause disease. Coxiella is able to commandeer human cells to replicate in a specialized vacuole but little is understood about how they do this. We will examine the virulence factors of Coxiella and investigate how they allow the bacteria to replicate inside human cells.
Novel Fluorogenic Probes For The Selective Detection Of Pathogenic Bacteria
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$542,489.00
Summary
Current methods for the detection of multi-resistant organisms either require expensive instrumentation and expert analysts or are simple, but require 24-48 hours for bacterial identification. The ideal surveillance method would be cost effective, rapid, reliable, and simple to perform. This project aims to prepare a range of fluorescent substrates for incorporation into growth media which will then be evaluated for the specific identification of individual multi-resistant organisms, e.g. MRSA.
Interactions Between Integrative Genomic Islands And Plasmids; Role In The Spread And Loss Of Antibiotic Resistance And Pathogenicity Determinants
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$776,465.00
Summary
Mobile elements that integrate into bacterial chromosomes at a specific site contribute pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance determinants to their bacterial host but only a few are able to move themselves into new hosts. Some plasmids and some elements can help certain others. In this project, genetic approaches will be used to investigate how plasmids and integrative elements help one another move into a new bacterium or compete with one another to stay in the same cell.
Role Of Plasmepsin V And PTEX Complex In Plasmodium Liver Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$848,408.00
Summary
Plasmepsin V and PTEX are essential proteins for malaria parasites to grow inside red blood cells. These proteins control the export of parasite proteins into red cells, causing disease. Before red blood cells are infected, parasites invade liver cells. Plasmepsin V and PTEX are expressed during liver infection but their function is currently unknown. We hypothesise that they allow parasites to export proteins into liver cells in order to survive and, thus, are antimalarial drug targets.
Helicobacter Pylori Acquisition Of Host Cholesterol: Its Role In Inflammation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$417,380.00
Summary
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is present in the stomach of half the world’s population. It is estimated that 20% of these people will suffer from peptic ulcer disease, whereas as many as 1% will develop stomach cancer later in life. The common factor in all these diseases is the inflammation induced by the bacterium. This project will investigate a new mechanism by which H. pylori causes inflammation and how dietary cholesterol may be involved in this process.
Anti-sporulation Strategies For Clostridium Difficile Infections
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$651,559.00
Summary
Hospital-acquired infections with the bacterium Clostridium difficile are a major global public health concern with highly virulent isolates emerging overseas in 2002 and in Australia in 2010. These strains have spread through our hospitals and are also found in the community. This project will increase our understanding of how these strains spread and will provide knowledge that is critical for developing improved strategies for preventing these infections.
Pacing Across The Membrane: Characterising The PACE Family Of Multidrug Efflux Systems
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$640,815.00
Summary
The World Health Organisation recognises bacterial antimicrobial resistance as one of the major threats to human health worldwide. Multidrug efflux pumps are an important class of resistance proteins that sit in the bacterial cell membrane and move antimicrobials out of the cell. We recently discovered the first new family of multidrug efflux pumps to be described in 15 years. Our project will define the precise resistance functions of this family and identify ways to block their function.
Host innate defence relies on the activation of several signalling pathways that regulate inflammation and cell death. Several important bacterial pathogens of humans inject virulence “effector” proteins into infected cells that interrupt host cell signalling pathways. We recently discovered a family of new effector proteins that directly degrade host proteins and block cell death. Here we will characterise this and other members of the family to understand their role during infection.
NOD1 Sensing Of H. Pylori Peptidoglycan Promotes Cell Survival And Bacterial Persistence
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$792,492.00
Summary
The bacterium H. pylori lives in the stomach of half the world’s population and is a major cause of human disease, including peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. This project will investigate how H. pylori is able to manipulate the host immune system by modifying the composition of its outside layer (the cell wall). In so doing, H. pylori causes changes in cells of the stomach lining that allow the bacterium to persist, but that also may predispose the host to cancer.