Interactions Between Herpes Simplex Viral And Neuronal Motor Proteins
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$222,962.00
Summary
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) lies dormant within the nerve cell bodies near the spinal cord in most people. Intermittently the virus reactivates and is transported down the nerve to the skin where it causes blisters-ulcers or is shed without causing symptoms. The aim of this grant is to determine how Herpes Simplex virus is transported within nerve cells at the molecular level. It builds on recent discoveries of a direct interaction between a Herpes simplex viral protein and the nerve cell motor p ....Herpes simplex virus (HSV) lies dormant within the nerve cell bodies near the spinal cord in most people. Intermittently the virus reactivates and is transported down the nerve to the skin where it causes blisters-ulcers or is shed without causing symptoms. The aim of this grant is to determine how Herpes Simplex virus is transported within nerve cells at the molecular level. It builds on recent discoveries of a direct interaction between a Herpes simplex viral protein and the nerve cell motor protein which transports essential components down nerves from the spinal cord to the skin. Ultimately we aim to develop inhibitors of this process which might be candidates for further development as antivirals for control of recurrent herpes simplex.Read moreRead less
THE AUTONOMIC, SOMATIC AND CENTRAL NEURAL RESPONSES TO DEEP AND SUPERFICIAL PAIN IN HUMAN SUBJECTS
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,750.00
Summary
Pain is a subjective experience, the intensity of which can be readily influenced by personal experience. Despite this, pain originating from a particular part of the body will usually be described by all individuals as having similar character. For example, pain arising from the skin is commonly described as being sharp or burning and is usually easy to localise, whereas pain arising from muscle is commonly dull, throbbing and diffuse. In addition to producing sensory changes, pain also evokes ....Pain is a subjective experience, the intensity of which can be readily influenced by personal experience. Despite this, pain originating from a particular part of the body will usually be described by all individuals as having similar character. For example, pain arising from the skin is commonly described as being sharp or burning and is usually easy to localise, whereas pain arising from muscle is commonly dull, throbbing and diffuse. In addition to producing sensory changes, pain also evokes changes in blood pressure, heart rate and motor activity (often in an attempt to remove the source of the pain). The proposed research aims to characterise the cardiovascular and motor patterns associated with pain originating in skin and in muscle and to examine the brain regions that produce these changes. More specifically, microelectrodes will be used to investigate changes in peripheral nerve activity during transient painful skin and muscle events in awake human subjects. In a separate investigation functional magnetic resonance imaging will be used to determine brain sites that are activated by skin or muscle pain.Read moreRead less