Modulating Inflammation As A Therapy For Harlequin Ichthyosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$718,739.00
Summary
Harlequin Ichthyosis is a severe inherited skin disease caused by mutations in a protein which regulates how skin cells control their levels of lipids. Treatments for this disease are limited and do little to improve patients condition. We believe we have found a new way to treat this condition by altering tissue inflammation. This grant will undertake important experiments aimed at developing new therapies for this currently incurable disease.
Immune Privilege Of The Hair Follicle: Implications For Alopecia Areata
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Summary
The skin, the second largest organ in the body after the skeleton, is of primary importance to the survival of mammalian life. Hair follicles are complex skin appendages, problems of which have an impact on human health and emotional welfare disproportionate to their small dimensions. In this study we will investigate the role of the immune system in the hair loss disease, alopecia areata, one of the most common human autoimmune diseases with the aim of finding more effective avenues of treatmen ....The skin, the second largest organ in the body after the skeleton, is of primary importance to the survival of mammalian life. Hair follicles are complex skin appendages, problems of which have an impact on human health and emotional welfare disproportionate to their small dimensions. In this study we will investigate the role of the immune system in the hair loss disease, alopecia areata, one of the most common human autoimmune diseases with the aim of finding more effective avenues of treatment for this poorly understood disease.Read moreRead less
Brm And Brg-1 Protect From Ultraviolet Radiation-induced Skin And Ocular Damage
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$555,325.00
Summary
Ultraviolet radiation within sunlight is the most important environmental hazard to which Australians are exposed. It causes cancers of the skin and eye, in addition to other forms of skin and eye damage. However sunlight also has health benefits such as vitamin D production. To protect our health from the sun we need to understand how it causes damage and the meachanisms involved. We have discovered a new pathway that we plan to study, called Brm and Brg-1, that provides protection from UV.
Cellular And Molecular Mechanisms Of Transcutaneous Immunisation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$190,490.00
Summary
Vaccines are among the most effective medical interventions. The recent discovery that cholera toxin, when applied to the normal skin of humans and laboratory animals, stimulates powerful and protective immune responses to itself, and to other proteins has opened up the possibility of needle-free vaccines in the form of skin patches. How CT brings about this effect is currently unknown. We have discovered that the immune stimulating effect of CT depends upon the production of an immune protein ( ....Vaccines are among the most effective medical interventions. The recent discovery that cholera toxin, when applied to the normal skin of humans and laboratory animals, stimulates powerful and protective immune responses to itself, and to other proteins has opened up the possibility of needle-free vaccines in the form of skin patches. How CT brings about this effect is currently unknown. We have discovered that the immune stimulating effect of CT depends upon the production of an immune protein (cytokine) called tumour necrosis factor (TNF). TNF is known to activate specialised immune cells within the skin (Langerhan's Cells ) and we hypothesise that the interaction beween CT and LC via TNF is the pathway to the potent immune response. In this project we propose to investigate the cells and molecules involved in the immune effects of CT in the skin with a view to the development of new skin based vaccine strategies.Read moreRead less
Novel Microdevices For Controlled Blood And Skin Extraction
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$314,644.00
Summary
Current blood sampling devices only create a puncture in the skin but have no capacity to collect blood while current tissue biopsies are not capable of repeated sampling in patients without the need for local anaesthesia or sutures. There is a need for clinically feasible devices to enable preventive strategies in the area of skin cancer and communicable diseases through facilitation of early detection, particularly in rural/remote areas where medical resources are limited.
ABCA12 – A New Regulator Of Cellular Lipid Metabolism And Inflammation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$786,676.00
Summary
Dysregulation of cholesterol metabolism plays a key role in a number of diseases – from diabetes and atherosclerosis to neurological and skin disorders. Mechanisms of regulation of cholesterol metabolism are poorly understood. We have recently discovered a new pathway regulating cholesterol metabolism and in this study we will investigate molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms of this pathway and will identify the possibilities to target it for therapeutic intervention.
Mammals have evolved an array of mechanisms to sense microbes. These immune sentinels must distinguish self from non-self to activate an immune response. The initiation, amplification and quenching of an immune response is carefully orchestrated to eliminate invading pathogens while minimising collateral damage to host tissues. This research focuses on proteins that prevent inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hepatitis, inflammatory bowel disease and skin diseases.