The role of the immune system in pain is emerging from recent discoveries, and may hold the key to novel pain treatments. Most people experience brief gut infections from food or contagion without long-term consequences. Many others suffer symptoms for years afterwards - probably the best example of immune-based pain. Our project investigates how immune cells communicate with sensory nerves, and how these communications change from both angles after gut infection or inflammation.
Transient Receptor Potential Channels (TRPs) As Transducers And Targets In Primary Visceral Afferents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$669,130.00
Summary
Transient receptor potential, or TRP channels, are involved in generating many of the sensations we perceive, such as heat, cold, touch and pain. Some TRP channels are specialized to signal pain from visceral organs, which we must investigate if we are to find treatments for visceral pain, which are currently lacking.
Identification Of The Pain Pathway From The Rectum And Its Mechanisms Of Activation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$566,931.00
Summary
Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons why patients seek medical attention. It is now known that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the major causes of abdominal pain, but the reason why people experience pain from the gut is not known. This project will identify which sensory nerves in the gut wall signal pain to the spinal cord during conditions that mimic IBS and the precise mechanisms that activate these sensory neurons during IBS-like inflammation will be investigated.
Five Year Outcomes Of Care For Prostate Cancer In New South Wales
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$388,773.00
Summary
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Australian males after non-melanocytic skin cancer. Each year more than 10,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and over 2,500 die from it. While the issue of early detection of prostate cancer through the use of Prostate Specific Antigen test continues to raise debate, the longer term quality of life outcomes after treatment for this disease remain of great interest to patients, clinicians and health planners. The Prostate Cancer Outcomes Stud ....Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Australian males after non-melanocytic skin cancer. Each year more than 10,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and over 2,500 die from it. While the issue of early detection of prostate cancer through the use of Prostate Specific Antigen test continues to raise debate, the longer term quality of life outcomes after treatment for this disease remain of great interest to patients, clinicians and health planners. The Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study is an already established research project that was established in 2000 with the aim of documenting the quality of life outcomes of 2000 men with prostate cancer to five years after diagnosis. The Department of Veterans Affairs funded the study between 2000 and 2005, to establish the cohort, collect patterns of care information from clinicians and quality of life information from participants to 3 years post diagnosis. We are now seeking funds to complete the quality of life follow up for each surviving participant at five years after diagnosis. We also will assess rate of recurrence of prostate cancer to five years and seek support to be able to undertake linkage with death certificate information to determine the vital status of each study subject and begin analysis of five-year survival rates. Five-year quality of life information will be the main endpoint for this part of the study. Initial analysis of the three-year data showed a continued improvement in outcomes related to urinary and sexual function. We wish to determine whether these improvements continue to five years and the extent of the difference, at that time, between men with prostate cancer and men without prostate cancer (controls), whom we are also studying. This information will be uniquely useful in helping men make decisions about treatment options when diagnosed with prostate cancer.Read moreRead less
Ion Channels Underlying Inflammatory And Post-inflammatory Visceral Mechanical Hypersensitivity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,439.00
Summary
Inflammation causes tissue damage that triggers ion channels within sensory nerve fibres to produce greater signals in response to mechanical events, causing acute pain. In chronic pain, although the inflamed tissue has healed, sensory nerve fibres fail to "reset" back to normal. Often chronic pain is more severe than acute pain. This project will identify which ion channels are responsible for signalling acute and chronic visceral pain, explaining why sensory nerve fibres fail to reset.
Epithelial cell surface mucins are large complex proteins found on the surface of all mucosal epithelial tissues, for example in the respiratory, gastrointestinal, reproductive and urinary tracts. Most bacterial and viral pathogens enter the body via mucosal tissues. We have recently demonstrated that mucin proteins are a vital component of initial defence against mucosal pathogens. Defects in these proteins probably predispose individuals to common chronic infective and inflammatory diseases. T ....Epithelial cell surface mucins are large complex proteins found on the surface of all mucosal epithelial tissues, for example in the respiratory, gastrointestinal, reproductive and urinary tracts. Most bacterial and viral pathogens enter the body via mucosal tissues. We have recently demonstrated that mucin proteins are a vital component of initial defence against mucosal pathogens. Defects in these proteins probably predispose individuals to common chronic infective and inflammatory diseases. The proposed research aims to explore the mechanims by which mucins protect from infection, with a focus on the gastrointestinal tract. Gastrointestinal infections remain one of the major causes of mortality in children in undeveloped countries. We believe that these proteins are a critical hereto unrecognised element of immunity and that the proposed studies will have broad significance for treatment and prevention of infection. Additionally, understanding the function of mucins could lead to the development of new drugs to treat epithelial inflammation such as that seen in inflammatory bowel diseases and respiratory diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis.Read moreRead less
The Role Of The EphA1 In The Normal Epithelial Organs And In Epithelial Tumour Progression.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$564,500.00
Summary
The Eph family of proteins were initially found to be important in normal development. In humans this corresponds to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. In parallel with these studies, other work provided evidence of abnormally high levels of these proteins in a number of human cancers. More recent evidence suggests that these proteins have important roles in the maintenance of normal tissues and in non-malignant diseases. This proposal seeks to understand how one of these proteins (EphA1) works in ....The Eph family of proteins were initially found to be important in normal development. In humans this corresponds to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. In parallel with these studies, other work provided evidence of abnormally high levels of these proteins in a number of human cancers. More recent evidence suggests that these proteins have important roles in the maintenance of normal tissues and in non-malignant diseases. This proposal seeks to understand how one of these proteins (EphA1) works in the cells which form the skin, liver, kidneys, breast and prostate. These cells also form the lining of the mouth, stomach, bowel and lungs. Understanding how the EphA1 protein and other members of this family cooperate to control the development and maintenance of these organs will allow us to determine whether this protein might be involved in congenital defects and diseases in these organs (such as kidney failure, cirrhosis of the liver and skin diseases). A second main aim of this project is to explore further the observation that Eph proteins are abnormally highly expressed in a wide rangre of human cancers. This abnormal expression is directly correlated with the tumours spreading throughout the body. EphA1 is abnormally highly expressed in cancers of the bowel, lung, breast and prostate. These are the commonest cancers in man and some of the most difficult to treat. The work proposed asks how EphA1 contributes to the development and progression of these cancers. These results will have very direct implications for the development of therapies which target the EphA1 protein.Read moreRead less