Targeting Neurovascular Communication As A Novel Way Of Reducing Vision Loss In Diabetes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$986,663.00
Summary
Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness. Here, we evaluate whether diabetes causes changes in the way neurons signal to blood vessels, and whether blocking some of the signals from neurons reduces blood vessel abormalities. Overall, this information is critical to our understanding of the early changes that occur during diabetes and whether novel treatments used early in diabetes can prevent long term changes and vision loss.
Modulating COVID-19 Disease By Targeting Virus And Virus-induced Responses Through Pharmaceutical And Mechanical Ventilation Strategies: SARS-CoV-2 S-protein, ACE2 And TMPRSS2
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$628,856.00
Summary
COVID-19 is a current global pandemic that is likely to be an on-going threat. We need a multipronged strategy to combat COVID-19, including therapeutic anti-virals and clinical practice management strategy. We will address both these points to define the mechanisms triggering disease, test existing drugs targeting androgens and modify the way doctors use ventilators to treat COVID-19 disease in the intensive care unit. Outcomes will have impact beyond COVID-19 for managing viral lung disease.
Exploiting Messenger RNA Export As A Novel Therapeutic Strategy To Treat Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$948,098.00
Summary
Novel therapies for cancers represent an area of unmet clinical need. We have identified a new biological pathway implicated in cancer, namely selective mRNA export. Compounds inhibiting other steps of the gene expression pathway are promising therapeutic candidates for cancer, yet mRNA export inhibitors do not exist. We propose to develop first-in-class inhibitors of mRNA export that selectively target transcriptionally addicted cancers with dysregulated RNA processing.
Pathways That Regulate Nuclear Export Of Circular RNA
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$933,327.00
Summary
An emerging and unusual class of RNA molecules, circular RNAs (circRNAs), is widespread and plays important roles in cancer initiation and progression. However, the pathways responsible for nuclear export of circRNAs are unknown. We propose here to systematically determine how circRNAs are exported from the nucleus and characterise the effect of modulating circRNA export pathways in cancer. This will enable us to determine whether circRNAs can function as a biomarker of patient response.