The Scientific Basis For The Integration Of Surgery And Immunotherapy For Lung Malignancies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$516,394.00
Summary
The work in this grant focuses on the effects of cancer surgery (tumor resection and removal of lymph nodes) on the anti-cancer immune response. It also examines whether delivery of agents into the residual tumour bed following surgery can effectively boost the effects of surgery on the immune system. The results obtained will help guide the rational design of future combination surgery-immunotherapy treatment regimens.
Immunopathogenesis Of Varicella Zoster Virus Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$346,250.00
Summary
Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is a herpesvirus which infects up to 90% of the population. VZV causes chicken pox (varicella) predominantly in childhood and shingles (herpes zoster) in middle to old age people. Whilst VZV usually causes relatively mild disease in healthy individuals, VZV still causes significant morbidity in children and adults. VZV causes life-threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals such as patients who are elderly or have HIV disease. Shingles affects many elderly i ....Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is a herpesvirus which infects up to 90% of the population. VZV causes chicken pox (varicella) predominantly in childhood and shingles (herpes zoster) in middle to old age people. Whilst VZV usually causes relatively mild disease in healthy individuals, VZV still causes significant morbidity in children and adults. VZV causes life-threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals such as patients who are elderly or have HIV disease. Shingles affects many elderly individuals and a major complication is prolonged severe pain or post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), which can be severely debilitating and often requires follow-up medical care for months or even years after the initial attack. Despite its significant impact on the community, little is known about how this virus functions and causes disease. This project aims to improve our understanding of how VZV infection affects specialised human cells in order to provide novel information for the development of therapies aimed at lessening the impact of VZV disease on the community. This project has four components: (1) We will continue studies which have shown that VZV causes programmed cell death (apoptosis) in human skin cells (fibroblasts) but not human nerve cells (neurons). We aim to identify viral genes responsible for the cell-type specific modulation of apoptosis in human neurons and fibroblasts (2) We will examine human sensory ganglia (clusters of human nerve cells) during shingles and determine what immune cells are present and whether neurons are undergoing apoptosis (3) To assess the impact of VZV infection on the ability of specialized immune cells (called dendritic cells) to mature properly (4) We have shown that VZV may actively avoid immune detection by interfering with the function of dendritic cells. We aim to identify the mechanism responsible for the virus interfering with the expression of immune molecules which are essential for our immune system.Read moreRead less
Molecular Mechanisms Of Varicella Zoster Virus Interactions With Key Target Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$421,650.00
Summary
Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is a herpesvirus which infects up to 90% of the population. VZV causes chickenpox (varicella) predominantly in childhood and shingles (herpes zoster) in middle to old age people. Whilst VZV usually causes relatively mild disease in healthy individuals, VZV still causes significant morbidity in children and adults. VZV causes life-threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals such as patients who are elderly or have HIV disease . Herpes zoster affects many eder ....Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is a herpesvirus which infects up to 90% of the population. VZV causes chickenpox (varicella) predominantly in childhood and shingles (herpes zoster) in middle to old age people. Whilst VZV usually causes relatively mild disease in healthy individuals, VZV still causes significant morbidity in children and adults. VZV causes life-threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals such as patients who are elderly or have HIV disease . Herpes zoster affects many ederly individuals and a major complication is prolonged severe pain or post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), both severely debilitating and which often requires follow-up medical care for months or years after the initial attack. Despite its significant impact on the community, little is known about the molecular details of how this virus functions. This project aims to improve our understanding of how VZV infection affects specialised human cells in order to make further advances in antiviral therapies as well improve vaccine design for the treatment or prevention of VZV disease and the crippling complication of PHN. This project has four components: (1) We will continue studies which have shown that VZV may actively avoid detection by the immune system. We aim to identify the mechanism and viral genes responsible for interfering with the expression of molecules which are essential for our immune system. (2) We will determine whether VZV infection of specialised immune cells (called dendritic cells) will affect their ability to function and interact with other immune cells (called T cells). (3) We will examine how VZV interacts in human nerve cells (neurons) and whether infected neurons undergo specially programmed cell death (apoptosis). (4) We will examine how different human cells change when they are infected with VZV. A new and exciting technology called DNA microarray now makes it possible to examine the expression of many thousands of genes in one experiment.Read moreRead less