Enhancing The Immune Response To Disordered Malaria Antigens
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$643,739.00
Summary
Half of the worlds population live at risk of malaria, and the disease kills half a million people a year, predominantly young children. Despite recent progress, a vaccine with the efficacy required to help control and ultimately eradicate malaria remains out of reach. This project studies an important class of proteins likely to form part of a future malaria vaccine, and will develop new ways to improve their effectiveness as vaccine components.
Structural Studies On The Immune Effector Perforin: Developing Mechanism-based Inhibitors
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,116,594.00
Summary
Perforin is an essential weapon deployed by the human immune cells in order to destroy virally infected or cancerous cells. Despite this key role, unwanted or excessive perforin function can result in disease and can severely impact on successful treatment of leukaemia through bone marrow transplantation. This application aims to understand the molecular details of perforin function, and to apply this knowledge to develop perforin inhibitors.
Novel Dual Domain Targeting Strategies Against ErbB Receptors
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$711,216.00
Summary
This project will develop innovative strategies to treat cancer through novel antibodies to erbB growth factor receptors, and identify ways to improve conventional treatments.
Roles Of The Hepatitis C Virus Glycoprotein E2 Variable Regions In Virus Entry, Immunogenicity And Immune Evasion.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$682,820.00
Summary
Hepatitis C Virus infects 200 million people world-wide with over 200,000 Australians infected with the disease. This project will examine how the surface proteins of HCV change their shape to evade antibody responses and how this effects the outcome of infection. We will further characterize a vaccine that elicits protective immunity to HCV to identify the optimal formulation for clinical trials.
Fc Alpha RI: Ligand Interaction And Membrane Organisation.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$497,640.00
Summary
Antibodies tag invading viruses or bacteria thus marking them as foreign and targeting them for destruction by the immune system. In man the most prevelant antibody is IgA and this antibody provides protection from infecton in the blood and in the fluids at the surface of the lungs, gut and urinogenital tract. Once tagged by antibody the invading bacteria or antigen can be recogniseed white blood cells. These workhorses of the immune system use special molecules called Fc receptors on their surf ....Antibodies tag invading viruses or bacteria thus marking them as foreign and targeting them for destruction by the immune system. In man the most prevelant antibody is IgA and this antibody provides protection from infecton in the blood and in the fluids at the surface of the lungs, gut and urinogenital tract. Once tagged by antibody the invading bacteria or antigen can be recogniseed white blood cells. These workhorses of the immune system use special molecules called Fc receptors on their surface to recognise antibody tags. The receptor for IgA tags is called the Fc alpha receptor. This receptor is essential for the normal IgA-mediated protection against infection. However in a common kidney disease IgA tags accumulate in the glomerulus of the kidney stimulating white blood cells to attack and damage the kidney. This study will explain how the Fc alpha receptor recognises IgA antibody tags. It will investigate how the presentation of different forms of the receptor and different types of IgA antibody tags contributes to immunity to infection. For example one form of the receptor has a fat molecule joined to its end. We believe this may affect where the Fc alpha recptor goes to in the white blood cell membrane and whether it can activate the white blood cell to fight the invading microorganism.Read moreRead less
Stability Engineering Of Human Antibody Therapeutics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$421,104.00
Summary
Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies are among the fastest growing class of drugs with more than $30 billion sales in 2011. Unfortunately, antibodies often display limited stability and a tendency to aggregate. This greatly hinders their development and results in high failure rates of otherwise promising candidates. We have recently identified mutations that render human antibodies resistant to aggregation. Here we apply this technology to a monoclonal antibody candidate developed by a leading pha ....Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies are among the fastest growing class of drugs with more than $30 billion sales in 2011. Unfortunately, antibodies often display limited stability and a tendency to aggregate. This greatly hinders their development and results in high failure rates of otherwise promising candidates. We have recently identified mutations that render human antibodies resistant to aggregation. Here we apply this technology to a monoclonal antibody candidate developed by a leading pharmaceutical company.Read moreRead less
Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT): Further Characterization Of Disease Mechanism Will Improve Patient Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$456,484.00
Summary
Thrombus formation occurs as a side effect of heparin treatment in many patients. This condition is called Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT). The clots may be stabilised by secretions from cells called neutrophils. In this project we will study this possibility using a mouse model of HIT and will explore therapeutic approaches to inhibit clot stabilisation.