A5062393796- Streptococcal Infections and Treatments
- Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
- S100 Proteins and Annexins
- Asthma and respiratory diseases
- Immune cells in cancer
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Immune Cell Function and Interaction
- Immune Response and Inflammation
- Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
- Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
- Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
- Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
- RNA Interference and Gene Delivery
- Neonatal and Maternal Infections
- Computational Drug Discovery Methods
- COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Chemokine receptors and signaling
- Allergic Rhinitis and Sensitization
- Gut microbiota and health
- Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
- IL-33, ST2, and ILC Pathways
- Cancer, Stress, Anesthesia, and Immune Response
- Respiratory Support and Mechanisms
RMIT University
2019-2024
RMIT Europe
2021
Monash University
2017-2019
University Medical Center Groningen
2011-2015
University of Groningen
2009-2014
To be optimally effective, peptide-based vaccines need to administered with adjuvants. Many currently available adjuvants are toxic, not biodegradable; they invariably invoke adverse reactions, including allergic responses and excessive inflammation. A nontoxic, biodegradable, biocompatible, self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery system is urgently needed. Herein, we report a potent fulfilling the above requirements. peptide antigen was coupled poly-hydrophobic amino acid sequences serving as...
Background: Carnosine is a dipeptide molecule (β-alanyl-l-histidine) with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-glycation, and chelating properties. It used in exercise physiology as food supplement to increase performance; however, vitro evidence suggests that carnosine may exhibit anti-cancer Methods: In this study, we investigated the effect of on breast, ovarian, colon, leukemic cancer cell proliferation. We further examined U937 promonocytic, human myeloid leukemia phenotype, gene...
Abstract Antigens incorporated in subunit vaccines are typically poorly immunogenic, so a strong immunostimulant (adjuvant) and/or delivery system is required to boost immunogenicity. In this work, the various functional polymer nanostructures, that is, rods, worms, spheres, and tadpoles used develop potent peptide antigen systems. The PADRE‐J8 (PJ8), derived from Group A Streptococcus (GAS) M‐protein, either physically mixed or chemically conjugated polymeric nanoparticles of different...
Globally, the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium perfringens causes severe disease in a wide array of hosts; however, C. strains are also carried asymptomatically. Accessory genes responsible for much observed phenotypic variation and virulence within this species, with toxins frequently encoded on conjugative plasmids many isolates carrying up to 10 plasmids. Despite unusual biology, current genomic analyses have largely excluded from healthy hosts or environmental sources. genomes, including...
DNA-based monitoring of microbial communities that are responsible for the performance anaerobic digestion sewage wastes has potential to improve resource recoveries wastewater treatment facilities. By treating sludge with propidium monoazide (PMA) prior amplicon sequencing, this study explored how presence DNA from dead biomass carried over feed may mislead process-relevant biomarkers, and whether primer choice impacts such assessments. Four common primers were selected preparation, also...
During COVID-19 lockdowns, online learning activities had to be developed for the Undergraduate and Masters by Coursework Bioinformatics students at RMIT University. Therefore, we designed an integrative, industry-based research assignment, which guided through a drug discovery project from target identification lead optimization. The were able utilize this real-life scenario apply multiple diverse but complementary bioinformatic principles analyze biological chemical data leading meaningful...
Peptide-based vaccines can trigger highly specific immune responses, although peptides alone are usually unable to confer strong humoral or cellular immunity. Consequently, peptide antigens administered with immunostimulatory adjuvants, but only a few safe and effective for human use. To overcome this obstacle, herein antigen was lipidated effectively anchor it liposomes emulsion. A B cell epitope from Group Streptococcus M protein conjugated universal T helper epitope, the pan DR-biding...
High-grade astrocytomas are malignant brain tumours that infiltrate the surrounding tissue and have a poor prognosis. Activation of formyl peptide receptor (FPR1) on human astrocytoma cell line U87 promotes motility, growth angiogenesis. We therefore investigated FPR1 inhibitor, Chemotaxis Inhibitory Protein S. aureus (CHIPS), as potential anti-astrocytoma drug.FPR1 expression was studied immunohistochemically in WHO grades I-IV. With intracellular calcium mobilisation migration assays,...
Intranasal vaccine administration can overcome the disadvantages of injectable vaccines and present greater efficiency for mass immunization. However, development intranasal is challenged by poor mucosal immunogenicity antigens limited availability adjuvants. Here, we examined a number self-adjuvanting liposomal systems delivery lipopeptide against group A Streptococcus (GAS). Among them, two liposome formulations bearing lipidated cell-penetrating peptide KALA new chitosan derivative...
Tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) is expressed on some tumor cells, such as myeloma, Hodgkin lymphoma, colon cancer and ovarian cancer, well immunosuppressive cells. There increasingly evidence that TNFR2 expression in microenvironment has significant implications progression, metastasis immune evasion. Although nanomedicine been extensively studied a carrier of immunotherapeutic agents, no study to date investigated TNFR2-targeting treatment. From an epigenetic perspective, previous...
COVID-19, caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), whilst commonly characterised as a respiratory disease, is reported to have extrapulmonary manifestations in multiple organs. Extrapulmonary involvement COVID-19 includes autoimmune-like diseases such Guillain-Barré syndrome and Kawasaki well presence of various autoantibodies including those associated with autoimmune systemic lupus erythematosus (e.g. ANA, anti-La). Multiple strains SARS-CoV-2 emerged...
Nanoparticles have tremendous therapeutic potential in the treatment of cancer as they increase drug delivery, attenuate toxicity, and protect drugs from rapid clearance. Since Doxil®, first FDA-approved nanomedicine, several other nanomedicines been approved successfully increased efficacy over their free counterparts. Although mechanisms action are well established, effects towards our immune system, particularly tumor microenvironment (TME), still warrant further investigation. Herein, we...
Adjuvants and delivery systems are essential components of vaccines to increase immunogenicity against target antigens, particularly for peptide epitopes (poor immunogens). Emulsions, nanoparticles, liposomes commonly used as a system peptide-based vaccines. A Poly(hydrophobic amino acids) was previously conjugated Group Streptococcus (GAS)-derived epitopes, allowing the conjugates self-assemble into nanoparticles with self adjuvanting ability. Their hydrophobic acid tail also serves an...
Synthetic glycine coated 50 nm polystyrene nanoparticles (PS50G), unlike ambient nanoparticles, do not promote pulmonary inflammation, but instead render lungs resistant to the development of allergic airway inflammation (AAI). In this study we show that PS50G modulate frequency and phenotype regulatory T cells (Treg) in lung, specifically increasing proportion tumour necrosis factor 2 (TNFR2) expressing Treg. Mice pre-exposed PS50G, which were sensitised then challenged with an allergen a...