The development of a rapid diagnostic test for heparanase activity. Heparanase is an enzyme that has been implicated in a number of disease states such as cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory diseases. Characterisation of this enzyme has been slow, due in part to the lack of a reliable direct activity assay. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this project seeks to establish a rapid assay that will provide easy determination of heparanase activity. Furthermore, this a ....The development of a rapid diagnostic test for heparanase activity. Heparanase is an enzyme that has been implicated in a number of disease states such as cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory diseases. Characterisation of this enzyme has been slow, due in part to the lack of a reliable direct activity assay. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this project seeks to establish a rapid assay that will provide easy determination of heparanase activity. Furthermore, this assay could provide a useful diagnostic tool in a clinical environment that would allow for the rapid assessment of these diseases, their progression and indeed response to therapy.Read moreRead less
Molecular response to interferon beta treatment in multiple sclerosis. Inteferon beta (IFNb) is the frontline drug for treatment of multiple sclerosis. However, in many patients this expensive drug provides no benefit, resulting in unnecessary, uncontrolled disease progression, and in a waste of many millions of dollars each year. A common explanation for this treatment failure is the development of neutralising antibodies (NABs). We will establish the prevalence and effects of NABs in Austra ....Molecular response to interferon beta treatment in multiple sclerosis. Inteferon beta (IFNb) is the frontline drug for treatment of multiple sclerosis. However, in many patients this expensive drug provides no benefit, resulting in unnecessary, uncontrolled disease progression, and in a waste of many millions of dollars each year. A common explanation for this treatment failure is the development of neutralising antibodies (NABs). We will establish the prevalence and effects of NABs in Australian patients, use novel techniques to identify biomarkers for IFNb response, evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic value of the biomarkers, and develop a new test for NABs. Tailored use of this drug, and possible new therapeutic targets, will result, benefiting the patient and community.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0347358
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$478,000.00
Summary
Adelaide high-speed cell sorter and analyser facility. Cell sorting and flow cytometric analysis represent powerful and essential tools in modern cell and molecular biology. The applicants seek to develop a core facility within Adelaide University housing a high-speed Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter and a high-speed flow cytometric analyser. Such a facility is not currently available to researchers in Adelaide. These high-speed machines will allow studies on rare cells and subcellular compon ....Adelaide high-speed cell sorter and analyser facility. Cell sorting and flow cytometric analysis represent powerful and essential tools in modern cell and molecular biology. The applicants seek to develop a core facility within Adelaide University housing a high-speed Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter and a high-speed flow cytometric analyser. Such a facility is not currently available to researchers in Adelaide. These high-speed machines will allow studies on rare cells and subcellular components, currently not possible on other machines and meeting the demand for access to this sophisticated equipment is vital for cell and molecular biologists in Adelaide to continue advances in genomics and proteomics.Read moreRead less
Surface Chemistry meets Cell Biology: Molecular Level Control of Surface Architecture for Cell Adhesion and Migration. Biotechnological applications such as tissue engineering, bone supports, implantable materials, cell assays and biosensors all require detailed knowledge of how cells interact with their environment. The proposed research aims to provide this knowledge by developing unique modified surfaces to investigate white blood cell migration and adhesion. Additional expected outcome will ....Surface Chemistry meets Cell Biology: Molecular Level Control of Surface Architecture for Cell Adhesion and Migration. Biotechnological applications such as tissue engineering, bone supports, implantable materials, cell assays and biosensors all require detailed knowledge of how cells interact with their environment. The proposed research aims to provide this knowledge by developing unique modified surfaces to investigate white blood cell migration and adhesion. Additional expected outcome will contribute to our understanding of the many fundamental cellular processes such as cell growth, differentiation and cell death as well as the molecular basis of diseases such as inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and wound healing. This research program will establish Australia as a leading force in this new research field.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989436
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
Multiphoton microscopy of living animals as a tool for immunology and cell biology studies. The multiphoton microscope will enable us to watch the growth, migration and interactions of cells in a living animal in response to changes in the cells' environment will give us better understanding of how we work as living machines, and what can go wrong with that process to make us unwell.
Improving and manipulating the immune adjuvant properties of recombinant fowlpox vectors. Unbalanced immune responses may cause or worsen common and important diseases such as infections, allergies, cancers and autoimmunity. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is the only immune active product or cytokine that safely skews an aberrant immune response to a healing type of response. Fowlpox viruses (FPV) provide safe and effective human vaccines. Engineering FPV to make both a relevant antigen and a cytokine is ....Improving and manipulating the immune adjuvant properties of recombinant fowlpox vectors. Unbalanced immune responses may cause or worsen common and important diseases such as infections, allergies, cancers and autoimmunity. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is the only immune active product or cytokine that safely skews an aberrant immune response to a healing type of response. Fowlpox viruses (FPV) provide safe and effective human vaccines. Engineering FPV to make both a relevant antigen and a cytokine is proprietary technology. With our commercial partner and using experimental mice, we will test the concept that FPV making a model antigen and IL-4 initiate and/or maintain beneficial Type 2 responses. A successful outcome will guide clinical FPV-based vaccine development for the treatment of important human and veterinary diseases.Read moreRead less
BIOSYNTHESIS OF A FUNGAL TOXIN AND ITS ROLE IN PLANT DISEASE. This project will determine how an important class of toxic molecules, epipolythiodioxopiperazines (EPTs), are made by fungi. Knowledge of the domains and actions of these genes in the biosynthetic pathway may lead to the ability to engineer secondary metabolites with altered specificity, and drugs that alleviate symptoms of secondary fungal toxicoses associated with leukemia, organ transplants and HIV AIDS. Also this project will a ....BIOSYNTHESIS OF A FUNGAL TOXIN AND ITS ROLE IN PLANT DISEASE. This project will determine how an important class of toxic molecules, epipolythiodioxopiperazines (EPTs), are made by fungi. Knowledge of the domains and actions of these genes in the biosynthetic pathway may lead to the ability to engineer secondary metabolites with altered specificity, and drugs that alleviate symptoms of secondary fungal toxicoses associated with leukemia, organ transplants and HIV AIDS. Also this project will also elucidate the role of an EPT, sirodesmin, in blackleg of canola, a disease that costs the Australian canola industry up to $50 million in losses annually. Outcomes of this project may lead to novel blackleg disease control strategies. Read moreRead less
Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of terminal lymphocyte differentiation and alterations of the same that lead to leukemia. In the developed world infection diseases are the number three killer behind heart disease and cancer, and huge financial effort is put into treatment and prevention. Despite this, results have often been disappointing. One cause of these poor outcomes is the lack of knowledge of how effective immune responses are generated. This project aims to better understand th ....Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of terminal lymphocyte differentiation and alterations of the same that lead to leukemia. In the developed world infection diseases are the number three killer behind heart disease and cancer, and huge financial effort is put into treatment and prevention. Despite this, results have often been disappointing. One cause of these poor outcomes is the lack of knowledge of how effective immune responses are generated. This project aims to better understand the processes that control the generation of protective lymphocytes. It will deliver information that may enable a more targeted approach to vaccine-development and treatments of infections. As defective differentiation can also be a cause of leukemia it may also lead to targets of cancer treatment.Read moreRead less
Rational structure-based drug design of protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Protein tyrosine kinases (PTK) are a large, pivotal family of signalling molecules implicated in diseases such as cancer and immune-related disorders, that cause significant morbidity and mortality within the population. This research proposal aims to develop PTK-specific small molecule inhibitors to combat such diseases. Cytopia's drug discovery capability, coupled with the X-ray crystallographic expertise within Monas ....Rational structure-based drug design of protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Protein tyrosine kinases (PTK) are a large, pivotal family of signalling molecules implicated in diseases such as cancer and immune-related disorders, that cause significant morbidity and mortality within the population. This research proposal aims to develop PTK-specific small molecule inhibitors to combat such diseases. Cytopia's drug discovery capability, coupled with the X-ray crystallographic expertise within Monash University, will permit a rational, structure-based drug discovery platform to be established. The ultimate goal of this innovative and mutlidisciplinary approach, namely a portfolio of phase I therapeutics, will be of substantial benefit in the medical health area.Read moreRead less
Rational structure-based drug design of protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors. This research project is focussed on understanding the physiological roles of a group of enzymes within the cell, as well as developing therapeutics to combat significant diseases. It will achieve this by developing compounds to enzymes that are implicated in the disease process. The research project represents a continuation of a collaboration between academic researchers at Monash University, and an Australian biotec ....Rational structure-based drug design of protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors. This research project is focussed on understanding the physiological roles of a group of enzymes within the cell, as well as developing therapeutics to combat significant diseases. It will achieve this by developing compounds to enzymes that are implicated in the disease process. The research project represents a continuation of a collaboration between academic researchers at Monash University, and an Australian biotechnology company, Cytopia Ltd.Read moreRead less