Towards The Rational Design Of Calcium Sensing Receptor Allosteric Modulators For The Treatment Of Osteoporosis And Calcium Handling Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$741,390.00
Summary
Drugs that target the human calcium sensing receptor can be too strong or too weak, resulting in side effects or lack of efficacy. This proposal thus seeks to establish whether the strength of drug activity can be rationally altered and exploited to treat different disease states by fine-tuning CaSR activity in a disease-specific manner.
Bismuth Compounds And Materials As Antibacterial Agents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$476,535.00
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance has been identified by the World Health Organisation as one of the greatest threats we face globally. The amount of effective antibacterial agents is rapidly diminishing. The threat of antimicrobial resistance is greatest in hospitals and health-care facilities. Our project aims to produce a new range of bismuth based antibacterial materials, which will be used in devices, coatings and surfaces in the clinic, to combat the rise of infections caused by resistant bacteria.
Development Of Peptide-based Scaffolds For Intracellular Cancer Targets
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,479,836.00
Summary
The overall aim of this project is to develop peptide-based drugs that are able to cross cell membranes and inhibit specific targets inside cells leading to more effective, safer and cost effective drugs for cancer. One potential outcome of the project will be new drug leads to treat melanoma and leukemia that are likely to be less toxic, more potent and less likely to develop resistance than current treatments.
Structure-based Design Of Inhibitors Of PimA - A New Target For Tuberculosis Therapy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$666,246.00
Summary
Tuberculosis (TB) is a devastating disease that kills 2 million people worldwide each year and affects one-third of the entire human population. Bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics is an ever increasing problem, highlighting the need to develop new anti-TB drugs. The aim of this project is to develop specific inhibitors to target a protein that is essential for the survival of the tuberculosis bacterium.
Malaria is a major global health problem. The protein AMA1 plays a key role in the invasion of host cells by malaria parasites, and agents that inhibit this interaction prevent host cell invasion and thus represent leads for the development of anti-malarial drugs. We have identified a number of chemical scaffolds that target a key site on AMA1. In this project we will optimize these leads to generate potent ligands for this site and evaluate the efficacy of these ligands as anti-malarial agents.
The Awakening:GABA-A Receptors As Targets For Improving Motor Function
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$735,498.00
Summary
Zolpidem (Stilnox) is a “sleeping pill” that is reported "awaken" people with severe motor, memory and speech disabilities that result from stroke or other brain injury. We have identified a novel target by which zolpidem can exert these effects. This project will characterise this target and assess drug effects in models of stroke.
Activation Of The Respiratory Syncytial Virus Fusion Protein
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$582,072.00
Summary
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the most important viral cause of respiratory tract disease in both infants and the elderly. However, there are few available options for control, whether by vaccination or therapeutic intervention. This proposal investigates the way RSV infects cells. A clearer understanding of the molecular basis of this process should provide potential targets for new drugs that can block this process and new insights for the generation of vaccine candidates.