This project will involve using immunohistochemistry to determine patterns of activated neurons in the brains of animals with high blood pressure arising from different diseases including polycystic kidney disease . The aim of the experiments are to compare between normal animals and those with high blood pressure. You will gain experience in anatomy, tissue handling, immunohistochemistry and microscopy.
2. Examination of the efficiency of Phylomer peptides and Chinese herbs in the control of human and animal infectious diseases.
Cryptosporidiumis an enteric parasite, which has a global impact on the health, survival and economic development of >10 million people and animals worldwide, for which no effective chemotherapy is available. Clinical manifestations of cryptosporidiosis vary with age and immunological status. Immunocompetent individuals may have voluminous but self-limiting diarrhea, however, in immunodeficient individuals; cryptosporidiosis can be associated with chronic, diarrhoea with a fatality rate as high a 60%. We have identified a series of phylomers (naturally constrained peptide subdomains) in collaboration with a Perth-based biotechnology company called Phylogica), which inhibit the growth of Cryptosporidium by targeting purine salvage enzymes in the parasite. It has been shown that Phylomers can be successfully delivered across the cell membrane using protein transduction domains. Preliminary evidence suggests that phylomers have broad-spectrum anti-microbial activity. This project is a collaboration with Professor Songhua Hu at Zhejiang University in China. Professor Songhua Hu has successfully used Chinese herbs in treating animal diseases such as bovine mastitis. The study will involve testing Chinese herbs and Phylomers on Cryptosporidium and a range of other pathogens. Techniques learned will include cell culture, drug testing, qPCR and spectrophotometry.
3. Proteomics analysis of Cryptosporidium life cycle stages using Maldi Imaging
Cryptosporidium has a world-wide geographic distribution, can remain viable under cool, moist conditions for many months, and is resistant to conventional disinfectants used by the water industry to disinfect water, including chlorine. It has been responsible for numerous water-borne outbreaks of disease and represents the major public health concern of water utilities in developed nations.
Recent developments in in vitro cultivation have revealed that Cryptosporidium can complete its life cycle in media devoid of host cells, contradicting the current viewpoint that it can only grow on host cells. As the oocyst is believed to be the only stage in the life cycle capable of surviving in the environment, current detection methods for Cryptosporidium within the water industry and studies conducted to assess the survival of Cryptosporidium under environmental conditions have focused on the oocyst. Preliminary work in our laboratory demonstrated the presence of Cryptosporidium life cycle stages appearing in samples, which had been stored in water for long periods of time. Nothing is known about what proteins are expressed in different life-cycle stages and which proteins could be used as biomarkers to identify, concentrate and analyse different life-cycle stages. The aim of this study is to apply Maldi-imaging mass spectrometry to identify and characterse proteins, which are expressed in life cycle stages. The data generated from this project will be used to generate biomarkers for life-cycle stages.
4. Prevalence and genetic characterisation of blood-borne parasites in Urban adapted Possums
The Common brush-tailed possums (Trichosurus vuplecula) is one of the most abundant and widespread native marsupials in urban Australia. Possums have flourished in urban areas by adapting their diet to include food scraps and garden plants found in abundance in residential areas, public parks, botanic gardens and zoos. These aspects of possum ecology have promoted interaction with humans, domestic pets and other introduced animals facilitating the transmission of pathogens, some of which are infectious to humans. Blood-borne parasites have been identified at a high prevalence in other marsupials but nothing is known of their prevalence in possums. This study will determine the prevalence and identity of blood-borne parasites in Common brush-tailed possums that live at high density at the urban interface. DNA will be extracted from blood and parasites such as theileria and trypanosomes will be screened for by PCR and their DNA will be sequenced to identify them. The data generated will be used to understand if these parasites are impacting on host health and if possums harbour human-infectious species of blood parasites.
5. Can Australian marsupials transmit Giardia to humans?
Giardia is a protozoan parasite and one of the most common causes of diarrhoea in humans and animals. In Australia, marsupials are one of the dominant mammalian groups within watersheds. It is therefore important to investigate the occurrence of Giardia in marsupials to determine whether infections pose a potential threat to public health, so that appropriate catchment management strategies may be implemented. Little is known of the prevalence and genotypes of Giardia infecting marsupials, although preliminary research suggests that they can be infected with human-infectious species. The objective of this study is to screen marsupial fecal samples using molecular tools from areas of high and low human interaction in order to determine (a) the prevalence of Giardia in marsupials by PCR and (b) to determine whether human-infectious genotypes of Giardia are found in marsupials using PCR and sequencing techniques. This study will therefore provide important information on not only the biology of Giardia infecting marsupials as well as the transmission dynamics of Giardia and will also identify if there are any public health implications.
For more information on the above projects contact: A/Prof. Una Ryan, Biochemistry
Room 3.55Ph 9360 2482 Una.Ryan@Murdoch.edu.au
6. Canine lymphoma molecular genetics.
We have an ongoing project looking at gene expression in canine lymphoma, using gene chip technology. We propose a Summer Scholarship in which the scholar will review key genes, which predict prognosis, identified in comparable studies in human lymphomas, identify the pathways involved and suggest the top candidate genes we need examine in the dog. Whilstmuch of the project would be based on literature and on-line material, the scholar would also be able to spend time in the veterinary oncology clinic to gain background experience relevant to the impact and treatment of cancer in animals. Additionally, we envisage a component involving collecting normal lymph nodes from dogs (as controls) and following through the RNA extraction process prior to gene chip analysis. The scholar would gain an understanding of how gene chip technology is contributing to our knowledge of neoplasia.
For further information about the project, please contact:
Dr Phil Nicholls, Pathology
Email: P.Nicholls@murdoch.edu.au
Phone: 9360 2599
Other supervisors will include Dr Wayne Greene, Dr Ken Wyatt and Margaret Sharp.
7. Immunology
We have a special interest in allergic asthma and autoimmune disease; respiratory disease with special reference to respiratory viral infections; pharmacological interventions for re-establishment of immune tolerance.
For details about potential projects, please contact:
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