Investigating the Dystrophin-Glycoprotein Complex to Protect Muscles from Wasting Conditions
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Research Project Leader
Professor Gordon Lynch+61 3 8344 0065
Project Details
The dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) is a multi-protein structure required to maintain integrity of the muscle fibre membrane and to transmit force, by linking the actin cytoskeleton with the extracellular matrix. Importantly, we and others have shown the DGC also plays a critical role in the signalling mechanisms that maintain muscle homeostasis and membrane localisation of dystrophin is perturbed in muscles wasting because of cancer cachexia, sepsis, unloading, denervation and advanced ageing, which are all associated with low level, chronic inflammation.
Identifying therapeutic approaches to restore the DGC at the muscle fibre membrane is essential for improving clinical outcomes for patients whose muscles are wasting and seemingly unresponsive to other treatments.
This project will test the hypothesis that loss of DGC integrity at the fibre membrane is implicated in multiple wasting conditions and that post-translational modification modulates these DGC interactions to preserve and protect muscles in different muscle wasting states.
Researchers
Dr Kate Murphy, Senior Research Fellow
Dr James Ryall, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Kristy Swiderski, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Justin Hardee, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Marissa Caldow, Senior Research Fellow
Audrey Chan, Research Support Officer
Jennifer Trieu, Research Assistant
Timur Naim, Research Assistant
Dylan Chung, Research Support Officer
Alaina Lee, Senior Research Assistant
Suzannah Read, Research Assistant
Students
Savant Thakur, PhD student
Francesca Alves, PhD student
John Nguyen, Masters student
Chloe Li, Masters student
Aundrea Quek, Masters student
Yichen Xue, Honours student
Funding
2019-2021 ARC Discovery Project. Mechanisms of age - related changes in amino acid signaling in skeletal muscle
2018-2021 NHMRC Project Grant. Rescuing the Dystrophin-Glycoprotein Complex to protect muscles from wasting conditions
2018-2020 Duchenne Parent Project. Evaluating a sulforaphane-based nutraceutical to alleviate gastrointestinal dysfunction in DMD
2017-2020 NHMRC Project Grant. Therapeutic potential of skeletal muscle plasticity and slow muscle programming for muscular dystrophy
2017-2020 NHMRC Project Grant. A simple method to improve stem cell transplant therapy
2017-2019 Cancer Council Victoria. Using novel Fn14 inhibitory antibodies to treat cardiac cachexia in cancer
2015-2019 ARC Discovery Project. Understanding the cellular cues that direct muscle stem cell specification
Research Opportunities
This research project is available to PhD, Masters by Research, Honours, Master of Biomedical Science, Post Doctor Research to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.