Transcriptome Profiling of the Human Pathogen Schistosoma japonicum

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/442927

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

The parasitic disease, schistosomiasis, caused by human bloodflukes of the genus Schistosoma, is a major public health issue in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia. Current control methods are far from ideal, and a comprehensive understanding of the genetic mechanisms which allow schistosomes to grow, develop and survive within their hosts affords the best prospect for identifying new drug and vaccine targets. Microarray technology allows simultaneous monitoring of thousands of different genes, and to determine where and when they are active, thus placing the mass of data generated by genome sequencing programs into a biological and functional context. Microarrays provide a unique, cutting-edge, tool for investigating schistosome biology. We have fabricated a microarray representing some 20,000 schistosome genes. We will use this resource to perform large scale monitoring of schistosome gene expression during the parasite's complex life cycle, targetting the regionally important Asian schistosome, Schistosoma japonicum, for study. This will provide the single largest insight into the genetic changes that occur during schistosome development, will greatly further our understanding of the adaptations needed for the growth, development and survival of the parasite, and will identify genes involved in key biological processes, all of which may be exploitable for future interventions and treatments.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2007

End Date: 01-01-2009

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $257,560.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical Parasitology

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Gene Expression | Gene Expression and Characterisation | Infectious Diseases | Life Cycle | Microarray | Parasite | Schistosoma Biology and Vaccine Development

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