Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0214135
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$492,000.00
Summary
High performance protein crystallography. This proposal will provide state of the art high performance facilities for protein crystallography, bringing together the major structural biology groups in NSW and the ACT. A renewed focus on protein crystal structures will stimulate new interpretation and utilization of the vast amount of data that has come from genomics, especially the sequencing of the human genome. The proposed facility will generate new research collaborations between the partn ....High performance protein crystallography. This proposal will provide state of the art high performance facilities for protein crystallography, bringing together the major structural biology groups in NSW and the ACT. A renewed focus on protein crystal structures will stimulate new interpretation and utilization of the vast amount of data that has come from genomics, especially the sequencing of the human genome. The proposed facility will generate new research collaborations between the partner institutions which will result in advances in basic life sciences, biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals. The facility will complement regional initiatives in functional genomics, bioinformatics, proteomics and high-field NMR spectroscopy.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms and consequences of oxidation of glycosaminoglycans, proteins and proteoglycans by myeloperoxidase-derived oxidants. Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) is responsible for the death of 40% of the population of developed, and developing, countries including Australia. Rupture of the fibrous cap of atherosclerotic lesions is responsible for most sudden deaths from heart disease and stokes, but is a poorly understood process. Evidence has been presented for a role for oxidation r ....Mechanisms and consequences of oxidation of glycosaminoglycans, proteins and proteoglycans by myeloperoxidase-derived oxidants. Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) is responsible for the death of 40% of the population of developed, and developing, countries including Australia. Rupture of the fibrous cap of atherosclerotic lesions is responsible for most sudden deaths from heart disease and stokes, but is a poorly understood process. Evidence has been presented for a role for oxidation reactions in weakening the structure of lesions and making them prone to rupture. Little is known about the fundamental chemistry of such damage; this will be addressed in the proposed program. The data obtained will underpin the development of new preventative and protective strategies to minimise lesion rupture and deaths from this major disease.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms and consequences of myeloperoxidase-mediated damage to glycosaminoglycans, proteins and proteoglycans. Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) is responsible for the death of 40% of the population of developed, and developing, countries including Australia. Rupture of the fibrous cap of atherosclerotic lesions is responsible for most sudden deaths from heart disease and stokes, but is a poorly understood process. Evidence has been presented for a role for oxidation reactions in we ....Mechanisms and consequences of myeloperoxidase-mediated damage to glycosaminoglycans, proteins and proteoglycans. Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) is responsible for the death of 40% of the population of developed, and developing, countries including Australia. Rupture of the fibrous cap of atherosclerotic lesions is responsible for most sudden deaths from heart disease and stokes, but is a poorly understood process. Evidence has been presented for a role for oxidation reactions in weakening the structure of lesions and making them prone to rupture. Little is known about the fundamental chemistry of such damage; this will be addressed in the proposed program. The data obtained will underpin the development of new preventative and protective strategies to minimise lesion rupture and deaths from this major disease.Read moreRead less
Smart bio-mimetic self-assembled gels for biomedical applications. Advanced materials that can be used to deliver drugs, repair scars and damaged tissue are the holy grail of regenerative medicine. Recently, a class of materials called self-assembled gels have shown enormous potential in this regard. Self-assembled gels have already demonstrated their use in drug delivery and are showing great promise in the treatment of spinal injuries. This project will create an even smarter version of these ....Smart bio-mimetic self-assembled gels for biomedical applications. Advanced materials that can be used to deliver drugs, repair scars and damaged tissue are the holy grail of regenerative medicine. Recently, a class of materials called self-assembled gels have shown enormous potential in this regard. Self-assembled gels have already demonstrated their use in drug delivery and are showing great promise in the treatment of spinal injuries. This project will create an even smarter version of these gels with biological activity, especially targeting cancer and suppressing tumour growth after surgery. Our approach will help to ensure that Australians can take a leading role in this highly exciting new area of biomedical research.Read moreRead less
New approaches to inhibition of activity of HIV integrase. This project aims to assist in the development of novel anti-HIV drugs that will benefit the 17000 Australians and more than 33 million people worldwide who are currently suffering with this terrible disease. The project will utilise state-of-the-art approaches in structure-based drug design to identify and synthesise compounds as leads for the development of anti-HIV drugs. Furthermore, the project will provide invaluable training for t ....New approaches to inhibition of activity of HIV integrase. This project aims to assist in the development of novel anti-HIV drugs that will benefit the 17000 Australians and more than 33 million people worldwide who are currently suffering with this terrible disease. The project will utilise state-of-the-art approaches in structure-based drug design to identify and synthesise compounds as leads for the development of anti-HIV drugs. Furthermore, the project will provide invaluable training for the researchers involved and enhance the relationship between the academic and commercial collaborators.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100010
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$720,000.00
Summary
A 5-D Correlative Imaging Platform: Combining the strengths of light and electron microscopy. This will be Australia's first dedicated five-dimensional multiphoton-microscopy platform, allowing observation of dynamic structures across different length and time scales under controlled temperatures, followed by high-resolution electron microscopy studies on the same samples. This platform will provide a unique characterisation tool to Australia's top-flight investigators, and so contribute to the ....A 5-D Correlative Imaging Platform: Combining the strengths of light and electron microscopy. This will be Australia's first dedicated five-dimensional multiphoton-microscopy platform, allowing observation of dynamic structures across different length and time scales under controlled temperatures, followed by high-resolution electron microscopy studies on the same samples. This platform will provide a unique characterisation tool to Australia's top-flight investigators, and so contribute to the nation's research priorities. It will enable: fundamental studies of cancer, neural diseases and immune disorders; the development of frontier technologies, such as smart nanomaterials, biosensors and targeted drug delivery; and applied research to help plants and soils adapt to climate variability, and to increase sustainable use of water.Read moreRead less
Streamlining the dynamin epilepsy drug pipeline. Epilepsy affects up to one percent of Australia's population, yet one in three fail to respond to current medications. Our results will greatly impact on development of future epilepsy therapy. Identification of a new target for epileptic will allow better drug design to improve the potency of our lead drugs. This holds hope that new generation drugs will be more effective. The drugs are predicted to have fewer complications and side-effects. Th ....Streamlining the dynamin epilepsy drug pipeline. Epilepsy affects up to one percent of Australia's population, yet one in three fail to respond to current medications. Our results will greatly impact on development of future epilepsy therapy. Identification of a new target for epileptic will allow better drug design to improve the potency of our lead drugs. This holds hope that new generation drugs will be more effective. The drugs are predicted to have fewer complications and side-effects. The outcome has the potential to vastly improve prospects for up to 200,000 Australians. Intellectual property (IP) retained in Australia will generate future biotechnology industry. The novel chemical biological approaches will facilitate training of future generations of Australian scientists.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0561041
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$347,358.00
Summary
A New Generation Biosensor and Fluorescence Facility for Proteomics. The complete DNA sequence (the genome) is now known for many organisms and advances are being made to identify the complement of messenger RNA (the transcriptome) and the resultant collection of proteins (the proteome). The genome is largely fixed while the transcriptome and proteome differ between cell types in an organism and constantly vary to adapt the cell to changing conditions. The mediators of these variations are prote ....A New Generation Biosensor and Fluorescence Facility for Proteomics. The complete DNA sequence (the genome) is now known for many organisms and advances are being made to identify the complement of messenger RNA (the transcriptome) and the resultant collection of proteins (the proteome). The genome is largely fixed while the transcriptome and proteome differ between cell types in an organism and constantly vary to adapt the cell to changing conditions. The mediators of these variations are proteins, interacting with each other and with signal molecules. The next frontier in molecular biology is to identify and quantify these protein interactions. Our two institutions have a very large cohort of biologists whose research on proteins would be greatly facilitated by the Biacore 3000 and the ISS K2.Read moreRead less
Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in disease. Defects in mitochondria, the energy producing compartments within cells, lead to severe neurodegenerative diseases and contribute to the development of cancer. Treatment for such diseases caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA remains unsatisfactory and mostly confined to supportive measures. The identification of proteins that regulate gene expression within mitochondria provides an unexplored resource of potential disease modulators and drug ta ....Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in disease. Defects in mitochondria, the energy producing compartments within cells, lead to severe neurodegenerative diseases and contribute to the development of cancer. Treatment for such diseases caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA remains unsatisfactory and mostly confined to supportive measures. The identification of proteins that regulate gene expression within mitochondria provides an unexplored resource of potential disease modulators and drug targets. This research will lead to new strategies in the design of improved anticancer drugs, which is an important Australian research priority that will promote and maintain good health, and provide potential commercial outcomes.Read moreRead less
Protein-mRNA interactions and their role in post-transcriptional regulation. The research outcomes will be of fundamental importance in the field of gene regulation, and as such will result in publications in high-profile international journals and continue to contribute to Australia's outstanding international reputation in biological research. Students and research associates that have the opportunity to work on this project will be trained in the use of state-of-the art technologies in bioche ....Protein-mRNA interactions and their role in post-transcriptional regulation. The research outcomes will be of fundamental importance in the field of gene regulation, and as such will result in publications in high-profile international journals and continue to contribute to Australia's outstanding international reputation in biological research. Students and research associates that have the opportunity to work on this project will be trained in the use of state-of-the art technologies in biochemistry, scientific rigour and presentation skills and thus contribute to the quality of our national workforce. Furthermore, applications that arise from this work will contribute to Australia's intellectual property and future development of biotechnological industry.Read moreRead less