I have discovered particular factors produced by our white blood cells have the ability to shut down or boost protein production in the gut, pancreas and lung. My vision is to harness these to devise new strategies for treatments for infectious and non-infectious diseases (inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes) that have a high burden on our healthcare system.
How well people perform in everyday situations is often determined by memory function. When required to perform under stress memory performance is often affected. The effect of a psychological stress test on memory function in healthy volunteers and the ability of a dietary supplement, tyrosine, to prevent the effects will be studied. The data may suggest that depletion amino acids is responsible for the decrements in performance that are evident after an acute stressor.
THE EFFECT OF STRESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT ON DISEASE PROGRESSION IN MESIAL TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPSY
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$578,201.00
Summary
Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of drug-resistant epilepsy in adults, is a progressive neurodegenerative condition for which there is currently no effective disease modifying treatment. This proposal will explore whether co-morbid stress accelerates disease progression in MTLE, and whether targeting stress pathways by medical and environmental manipulations can mitigate against this.
Cells recycle old components using a system called the proteasome. Some people are born without parts of the proteasome, and they suffer from a disease associated with inflammation. We have identified the molecular trigger for this inflammation. Our findings are also relevant for patients being treated with proteasome inhibitors. In some of these diseases, such as lupus, inflammation can be a side-effect of proteasome inhibitor therapy, and we can now reduce this and make the treatments safer.
Metabolic Homeostasis: A Potentially Novel Regulatory Pathway Involving Caspase-2
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$316,449.00
Summary
Altered metabolic regulation contributes to ageing and the development of obesity, type II diabetes and cancer. Recently we discovered that an enzyme, caspase-2, is involved in metabolism, oxidative stress and ageing. We now wish to identify how caspase-2 regulates key metabolic pathways during ageing and nutritional stress. These studies will help to better understand metabolic control and may lead to the discovery of new drug targets to promote healthy ageing and prevent disease.
Motivational drive and reward are survival processes that underpin the maintenance of homeostasis. In humans, dysregulation of these brain circuits manifests in disorders such as depression and addictions. Our projects is focused on a key subgroup of neurons in the hypothalamus that modulates reward and motivation. We aim to understand how potent reward experience (e.g. drugs) or stress modifies these circuits and to identify potential entry points for therapeutic interventions.
A Novel Role For Proteolysis In Promoting Inner Ear Cell Injury And Hearing Loss
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$972,818.00
Summary
Nearly 40% of hearing loss is attributable to traumatic noise exposure. This project will test a new idea that cells in the inner ear are damaged and die via noise-induced proteolysis, and investigate whether a similar mechanism operates during age-related hearing loss. It will open new avenues for therapies to preserve hearing where trauma is unavoidable, or has occurred through accident or incident.
The choice of anaesthetic agent used during cancer surgery could reduce the chances that the tumour will relapse, according to our preliminary findings. Surgery releases stress hormones and inflammatory molecules, which we have shown to increase the chance of cancer recurrence. The proposed study explores how the choice of anaesthetic agent used in cancer surgery can block the adverse effects of surgical stress, and stop cancer coming back.