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ARC Future Fellows shine light on cell life and death

 

Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have received $4.45 million in Australian Research Council (ARC) funding to further fundamental discoveries about cell life and death, and the changes that occur in cells that give rise to cancer. Six researchers from the institute received ARC Future Fellowships each worth around $800,000 over four years to support research in the areas of cancer, chronic inflammatory disease and infectious disease.

Laboratory head Dr Ruth Kluck and senior postdoctoral fellow Dr Grant Dewson, from the institute’s Molecular Genetics of Cancer division, received two of the Future Fellowships which they will use to further investigations of the molecular mechanics of programmed cell death, or apoptosis. Changes in the regulation of apoptotic cell death are a major factor in cancer development and progression, allowing diseased or mutated cells to evade death and resist conventional therapeutic agents.

“During apoptotic cell death, proteins called Bak and Bax punch holes in the membrane of mitochondria, causing the cell to die,” Dr Kluck said. “We are examining how this occurs, and how Bak and Bax are regulated by other proteins in the Bcl-2 family. The ARC support through the Future Fellowship grants will help us understand these critical steps at the molecular level.”

Apoptotic cell death is an important factor in controlling cell numbers. Dr Kluck said this work could ultimately help the development of new therapeutic agents for treating diseases including cancers, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr Stephen Nutt from the Immunology division received a Future Fellowship worth almost $1 million over four years to study the development of white blood cells, the cells involved in immune function. These cells are produced by a rare type of stem cell in the bone marrow. “My research aims to understand how just a handful of master-regulator genes act in these stem cells to produce the white blood cells required for our immune response to microbes, vaccination and to prevent cancer,” Dr Nutt said.

The institute’s other Future Fellowships were awarded to: Dr James Murphy, to study the molecular pathways of blood cell formation and how they go awry in blood diseases; Dr Jake Baum, for investigating the mechanics of malaria parasite movement as a way of developing novel anti-malaria drugs; and Dr Melanie Bahlo, to develop methods to analyse human genome data for identifying causal mutations in families with inherited disorders, leading to diagnostic tests for these families.

Institute director Professor Doug Hilton said that the work being done by the six Future Fellows indicated that there is an exciting future in store for the institute.

“From Melanie’s bioinformatics skills to Jake’s efforts to find new targets for treating malaria and James’ study of blood cell production and its role in disease, I can see our research program is in good hands,” Professor Hilton said. “Combined with the tremendous headway Ruth and Grant are making in understanding programmed cell death and Stephen’s expertise in immunology, the institute is well placed to continue to make exciting contributions to fundamental medical research discoveries and translate these discoveries into real applications for human health.”

ARC Future Fellowships ‘promote research in areas of critical national importance by giving outstanding researchers incentives to conduct their research in Australia’. The ARC awarded 200 Future Fellow grants with a total investment of $143 million in the latest round of funding.

View the full list of ARC Future Fellows at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute commencing in 2011.

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