Relaxin family peptides are small proteins that have numerous essential biological roles in the vascular system, brain and gut. The hormone relaxin is currently in Phase III clinical trials to treat heart failure and the other peptides show great potential as drugs to treat diseases including mental illnesses and obesity. My research focuses on developing drugs targeting the receptors for these important peptide systems and understanding how these drugs can be best used therapeutically
Venoms To Drugs: Translating Venom Peptides Into Human Therapeutics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$774,540.00
Summary
Many disorders of the nervous system, including chronic pain, epilepsy and the neuronal degeneration suffered following a stroke, result from malfunction of channels that ferry ions across neuronal cell membranes. There are very few drugs available for treating these disorders and they often have debilitating side-effects. We are developing potent and selective modulators of these ion channels as the next-generation of safe and effective analgesic, anti-epileptic, and neuroprotective drugs.
Discovery And Development Of Novel Venom Peptide Analgesics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$763,845.00
Summary
Professor Lewis will discover and develop new research tools and potential therapeutics from toxins acting on pain pathways. The Fellowship will leverage (i) well-funded collaborations with top Australian and international scientists (ii) the recently established IMB Centre for Pain Research that I lead as inaugural Director, and (iii) an outstanding Institute equipped with leading edge technologies for high throughput and high content discovery and proteomic and transcriptomic analysis.
Next Generation Relaxin Molecular Probes And Therapeutics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$763,845.00
Summary
The peptide hormone relaxin is poised to be the first new treatment for acute heart failure in more than 40 years. However, like other therapeutic peptides, it has a very short duration of action due to its rapid clearance by the body. My work will utilize powerful medicinal chemistry methods to develop new analogues of relaxin that have much longer action by complexing it with sugar or making relaxin polymers. I will also produce smaller relaxin analogues that will be cheaper to manufacture.
Towards A Better Understanding Of The Health Benefits Of Physical Activity: Designing Exercise Mimetic For The Treatment Of Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$938,910.00
Summary
The health benefits of physical activity are well known but the mechanisms linking regular physical activity to chronic disease prevention are poorly understood. We have developed the concept that contracting muscles release factors that have positive effects on other organs in the body. This fellowship will allow me to develop this concept and uncover novel potential therapies that mimic the benefits of exercise.
Peptides (mini proteins) have outstanding potential as new drugs for cancer, pain and many other diseases, but their potential has not been realised so far because peptides tend to be unstable in the body. I have discovered a new class of peptides that are ultra-stable and have very favourable pharmaceutical properties. I will use these peptides to develop a new generation of drugs that are more potent and with fewer side effects than traditional drugs.
Modulating Protein-Protein Interactions In Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$863,910.00
Summary
Most diseases are driven by protein-protein interactions often with few/no greasy pockets to fit small molecule drugs. Innovative approaches to new drugs are needed for these proteins. This project combines chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology to create new drug leads, new knowledge on drug action and disease development at gene, protein, cell, animal levels, and aims to trial new drug leads in preclinical and eventually clinical tests in inflammatory and metabolic diseases, pain and cancer.
G protein-coupled receptors are proteins that exist on every human cell, where they sense, and respond to environmental stimuli. Because of their importance they are targeted by drugs to treat many diseases. However little is known about how drugs activate these receptors and this has hindered new drug development. I use state-of-the-art technology to determine how drugs activate receptors and develop new methods for drug discovery. This work will have major impact on the Pharmaceutical industry
Professor Lewis is a molecular pharmacologist interested in discovering new venom peptides and ciguatoxins and determining how they interact with the membrane proteins they target using advanced biochemical and spectroscopic methods. Peptides of interest are then modified to improve potency and selectivity. Those with appropriate properties are patented and developed for clinical applications using approaches successfully applied to Xen2174, a conopeptide analogue I co-discovered that is now in ....Professor Lewis is a molecular pharmacologist interested in discovering new venom peptides and ciguatoxins and determining how they interact with the membrane proteins they target using advanced biochemical and spectroscopic methods. Peptides of interest are then modified to improve potency and selectivity. Those with appropriate properties are patented and developed for clinical applications using approaches successfully applied to Xen2174, a conopeptide analogue I co-discovered that is now in Phase II clinical trials for severe pain.Read moreRead less