Hippo signalling control of transcription in lymphatic vascular development. Lymphatic vasculature forms complex, branched networks present in almost all vertebrate tissues and organs. Signalling in lymphatic endothelial cells determines the fate, structure and function of these complex and essential networks. This project follows our recent discovery of a major role for the Hippo signalling pathway in lymphatic vascular development. It aims to investigate how Hippo signalling regulates essenti ....Hippo signalling control of transcription in lymphatic vascular development. Lymphatic vasculature forms complex, branched networks present in almost all vertebrate tissues and organs. Signalling in lymphatic endothelial cells determines the fate, structure and function of these complex and essential networks. This project follows our recent discovery of a major role for the Hippo signalling pathway in lymphatic vascular development. It aims to investigate how Hippo signalling regulates essential target genes that drive lymphatic development. The project expects to generate fundamental knowledge in vascular signalling, transcription and the control of vascular network growth and expansion. Outcomes may provide significant benefits in new approaches in stem cell biology, tissue engineering and regenerative biology. Read moreRead less
Post-translational control of cell fate decision. Deciphering the multi-layered regulation of cell fate decisions is challenging. While progress has been made in understanding the role of transcriptional regulation, the influence of post-translational modification is poorly understood. Neural precursor cell expressed developmentally down-regulated protein 4 (NEDD4)-mediated ubiquitination is absolute necessary for sex determination, a unique model of cell fate decision where gonadal cell precurs ....Post-translational control of cell fate decision. Deciphering the multi-layered regulation of cell fate decisions is challenging. While progress has been made in understanding the role of transcriptional regulation, the influence of post-translational modification is poorly understood. Neural precursor cell expressed developmentally down-regulated protein 4 (NEDD4)-mediated ubiquitination is absolute necessary for sex determination, a unique model of cell fate decision where gonadal cell precursors differentiate either along the male or the female pathway. Thus, this project aims to analyse in detail at which stage NEDD4 action is required and what are the crucial target proteins. This project could provide a deeper understanding of how post-translational modifications influence cell fate decisions during embryogenesis.Read moreRead less
Solving the Mysteries of Monotreme Chromosomes. The peculiar chromosomes of Australia's platypus and echidna have been debated for more than 30 years. Classical cytology cannot resolve the puzzling sex chromosome system, or to sort out the bizarre translocation chain (unique in vertebrates) and deduce how it segregates to make viable zyotes. I will microdissect individual chromosomes, and use DNA ?paints? from them (and gene probes isolated by them) to detect homologies between unpaired chromoso ....Solving the Mysteries of Monotreme Chromosomes. The peculiar chromosomes of Australia's platypus and echidna have been debated for more than 30 years. Classical cytology cannot resolve the puzzling sex chromosome system, or to sort out the bizarre translocation chain (unique in vertebrates) and deduce how it segregates to make viable zyotes. I will microdissect individual chromosomes, and use DNA ?paints? from them (and gene probes isolated by them) to detect homologies between unpaired chromosomes at mitosis, meiosis and in sperm. I will use immunohistochemistry to clarify chromosome pairing and recombination at meiosis. This will answer some important general questions about chromosome behaviour and sex chromosome evolution.
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Genetic control of floral architecture. Different flowers have different designs, and so the design must ultimately be controlled by genes. We have identified a gene that keeps sepals separate, and promotes the initiation of petals. We think it does this by a novel growth suppression mechanism, and will now deduce its molecular and cellular basis. This will help maintain Australia's strength in fundamental plant biology. Also, by understanding how sepals and petals arise in a model laboratory sp ....Genetic control of floral architecture. Different flowers have different designs, and so the design must ultimately be controlled by genes. We have identified a gene that keeps sepals separate, and promotes the initiation of petals. We think it does this by a novel growth suppression mechanism, and will now deduce its molecular and cellular basis. This will help maintain Australia's strength in fundamental plant biology. Also, by understanding how sepals and petals arise in a model laboratory species, we can generalise for many species, including economic plants. Thus it may be possible to make designer crops through targeted genetic changes to their floral structure.Read moreRead less
Control of plant organ development by the PETAL LOSS gene of Arabidopsis. We have discovered a new gene in the model laboratory plant Arabidopsis thaliana that is involved in sepal and petal development. It encodes a transcription factor that apparently acts by repressing growth in the inter-sepal zone of flowers where petals arise. We now aim to determine how this growth suppression occurs, and whether it extends to leaves where the gene is also expressed. Control of the initiation and sculptur ....Control of plant organ development by the PETAL LOSS gene of Arabidopsis. We have discovered a new gene in the model laboratory plant Arabidopsis thaliana that is involved in sepal and petal development. It encodes a transcription factor that apparently acts by repressing growth in the inter-sepal zone of flowers where petals arise. We now aim to determine how this growth suppression occurs, and whether it extends to leaves where the gene is also expressed. Control of the initiation and sculpturing of plant organs by site-specific inhibition of growth is a newly discovered mechanism that may be useful in manipulating plant architecture.Read moreRead less
Understanding how auxin and dorsoventral patterning are coordinated in plants. This study will help reveal for the first time how the outgrowth of leaves, flowers and floral organs is coordinated by tissue patterning genes and the plant growth hormone auxin. All plants grow in this way, and our findings, made using a model laboratory plant, will be applicable to crop species as well. Thus we will both expand our core knowledge of how multicellular organisms are constructed, and also generate pos ....Understanding how auxin and dorsoventral patterning are coordinated in plants. This study will help reveal for the first time how the outgrowth of leaves, flowers and floral organs is coordinated by tissue patterning genes and the plant growth hormone auxin. All plants grow in this way, and our findings, made using a model laboratory plant, will be applicable to crop species as well. Thus we will both expand our core knowledge of how multicellular organisms are constructed, and also generate possibilities for modifying the patterns of leaf and flower development in agricultural and horticultural species. Crops with larger leaves, or flowers of different structure, may result.Read moreRead less
Organically-Capped Copper Nanowires for Soft Electronic Skin Sensors. Soft skin-like electronics can enable applications that are impossible to achieve with today's rigid circuit board technologies. However, it is difficult to realise such future soft electronics with traditional materials and conventional manufacturing methodologies. This project aims to synthesise novel organically-capped copper nanowires as electronic inks (e-inks) for developing cost-effective, soft, stretchable conductor (e ....Organically-Capped Copper Nanowires for Soft Electronic Skin Sensors. Soft skin-like electronics can enable applications that are impossible to achieve with today's rigid circuit board technologies. However, it is difficult to realise such future soft electronics with traditional materials and conventional manufacturing methodologies. This project aims to synthesise novel organically-capped copper nanowires as electronic inks (e-inks) for developing cost-effective, soft, stretchable conductor (e-skin) sensors, which are wearable for monitoring blood pulses, body motions and hand gestures in real-time and in situ. This is expected to advance our knowledge in nanotechnology and generate patentable technologies in soft e-skin sensors, and to bring significant scientific and economic gains to Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100564
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Vascularized tumour models to elucidate the delivery of nanomedicine agents. This inter-disciplinary project aims to develop advances in in vitro models aimed at elucidating the delivery and transport of diagnostic and therapeutic nanomedicine agents in tumour tissues. The project aims to build on advanced tissue engineering principles and state-of-the-art micro-fabrication technologies to remove the limitation associated with animal studies and provide unprecedented mechanistic insights into th ....Vascularized tumour models to elucidate the delivery of nanomedicine agents. This inter-disciplinary project aims to develop advances in in vitro models aimed at elucidating the delivery and transport of diagnostic and therapeutic nanomedicine agents in tumour tissues. The project aims to build on advanced tissue engineering principles and state-of-the-art micro-fabrication technologies to remove the limitation associated with animal studies and provide unprecedented mechanistic insights into the delivery, transport and binding of nanomedicines into tumour tissues.Read moreRead less
Understanding the evolution of the alternation of generations in the land plant life cycle. This project will investigate the genetic basis and evolution of the land plant life cycle, in which both haploid and diploid phases consist of complex multicellular bodies. The project's findings, which will be made using two model laboratory plants, will be applicable to all plants and will help understand important processes such as pollen and seed production.
The birth and death of mammalian sex chromosomes. This project aims to unravel the molecular mechanisms that underlie the transition from autosome to sex chromosome and progressive sex chromosome differentiation in mammals. Monotremes are the only mammalian species with a sex chromosome system that consists of ten sex chromosomes in platypus and nine in echidna. This project will analyse the genetic and epigenetic composition and organisation of the monotreme autosomes that evolved into sex chro ....The birth and death of mammalian sex chromosomes. This project aims to unravel the molecular mechanisms that underlie the transition from autosome to sex chromosome and progressive sex chromosome differentiation in mammals. Monotremes are the only mammalian species with a sex chromosome system that consists of ten sex chromosomes in platypus and nine in echidna. This project will analyse the genetic and epigenetic composition and organisation of the monotreme autosomes that evolved into sex chromosomes in other mammals and compare individual platypus and echidna sex chromosomes to discover how sex chromosomes come to be, differentiate and ultimately are replaced by new sex chromosomes.Read moreRead less