Ultrasound in muscle vascular research, and gene therapy. This project focuses on ultrasound and microbubbles for the imaging of microvascular blood flow patterns in skeletal muscle and as a modality for drug delivery. The aim is to develop and refine technology specifically for (i) assessment of muscle microvascular flow in health and disease, and for (ii) delivery of state-of-the art gene constructs to endothelial cells that control blood flow in the muscle microvasculature. We anticipate impr ....Ultrasound in muscle vascular research, and gene therapy. This project focuses on ultrasound and microbubbles for the imaging of microvascular blood flow patterns in skeletal muscle and as a modality for drug delivery. The aim is to develop and refine technology specifically for (i) assessment of muscle microvascular flow in health and disease, and for (ii) delivery of state-of-the art gene constructs to endothelial cells that control blood flow in the muscle microvasculature. We anticipate improved technology for early diagnosis of impairment in microvascular flow relevant to muscle insulin resistance and novel therapeutics that improve muscle microvascular blood flow applicable to the treatment of diabetes.Read moreRead less
Blood flow routes in muscle. Ageing well, ageing productively. The Australian population is ageing. The proportion of the population over the age of 65 is expected to greatly increase, reaching 22% by the year 2030. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in this older population is thought to be ~20%, compared to ~6% in younger populations. An initial cause of type 2 diabetes may be microvascular dysfunction brought on by physical inactivity. Therefore this project addresses the concepts of microvasc ....Blood flow routes in muscle. Ageing well, ageing productively. The Australian population is ageing. The proportion of the population over the age of 65 is expected to greatly increase, reaching 22% by the year 2030. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in this older population is thought to be ~20%, compared to ~6% in younger populations. An initial cause of type 2 diabetes may be microvascular dysfunction brought on by physical inactivity. Therefore this project addresses the concepts of microvascular function and microvascular fitness by using the latest technology to map blood flow routes in muscle under a number of relevant situations. Read moreRead less
Microdialysis for monitoring changes in microvascular flow patterns in muscle. Microdialysis is a technique for sampling interstitial fluid. Factors altering vascular delivery and removal of nutrients and hormones can affect muscle metabolism by altering exchange with the interstitium. This project focuses on microdialysis for assessing the impact of microvascular blood flow patterns on skeletal muscle metabolism and contractility. The aim is to develop and refine the technology, including equat ....Microdialysis for monitoring changes in microvascular flow patterns in muscle. Microdialysis is a technique for sampling interstitial fluid. Factors altering vascular delivery and removal of nutrients and hormones can affect muscle metabolism by altering exchange with the interstitium. This project focuses on microdialysis for assessing the impact of microvascular blood flow patterns on skeletal muscle metabolism and contractility. The aim is to develop and refine the technology, including equations, specifically for monitoring the nutritive fraction of blood flow in muscle by agents and factors relating to health and disease. This technique could be used for screening drugs in the treatment of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and related conditions.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0452281
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$102,900.00
Summary
Muscle Vascular Research and Gene Therapy Using Ultrasound. We seek funds to set up a national facility for ultrasound in muscle vascular research and gene therapy. Ultrasound with microbubbles will be used for the imaging of muscle microvascular blood flow and as a delivery modality for gene constructs to endothelial cells that control blood flow. The technology has application to (i) the assessment and therapeutic treatment of impaired microvascular function as in diabetics; (ii) the assessmen ....Muscle Vascular Research and Gene Therapy Using Ultrasound. We seek funds to set up a national facility for ultrasound in muscle vascular research and gene therapy. Ultrasound with microbubbles will be used for the imaging of muscle microvascular blood flow and as a delivery modality for gene constructs to endothelial cells that control blood flow. The technology has application to (i) the assessment and therapeutic treatment of impaired microvascular function as in diabetics; (ii) the assessment of adaptation to physical training and (iii) the development of therapeutic agents used to treat diabetes. We anticipate improved technology that is fully characterized and novel therapeutics that improve microvascular blood flow.Read moreRead less
Lipidomics Associated with Metabolic Syndrome, Aging and Metabolic Variation between Species. The aim is to apply state-of?the-art mass spectrometry to identify and quantify alterations in membrane lipidomes (i.e. lipid classes, molecular species, structure alterations and by-products) related to two major health problems facing Australia i.e. the Metabolic Syndrome and an Ageing population plus insight into the variation in metabolic rate between organisms. This research offers the opportunity ....Lipidomics Associated with Metabolic Syndrome, Aging and Metabolic Variation between Species. The aim is to apply state-of?the-art mass spectrometry to identify and quantify alterations in membrane lipidomes (i.e. lipid classes, molecular species, structure alterations and by-products) related to two major health problems facing Australia i.e. the Metabolic Syndrome and an Ageing population plus insight into the variation in metabolic rate between organisms. This research offers the opportunity for the development of mass spectrometry based technologies for the early clinical diagnosis of metabolic disorders plus provides a template of information for our Linkage partner (AstraZeneca) to develop pharmaceutical therapies targeting key molecular lipid species identified as critical to particular membrane functions.Read moreRead less