- About
- Strategic Plan
- Structure
- Governance
- Scientific divisions
- ACRF Cancer Biology and Stem Cells
- ACRF Chemical Biology
- Advanced Technology and Biology
- Bioinformatics
- Blood Cells and Blood Cancer
- Clinical Translation
- Epigenetics and Development
- Immunology
- Infectious Diseases and Immune Defence
- Inflammation
- Personalised Oncology
- Population Health and Immunity
- Structural Biology
- Ubiquitin Signalling
- Laboratory operations
- Funding
- Annual reports
- Human research ethics
- Scientific integrity
- Institute life
- Career opportunities
- Business Development
- Collaborators
- Suppliers
- Publications repository
- Awards
- Discoveries
- Centenary 2015
- History
- Contact us
- Research
- Diseases
- Cancer
- Development and ageing
- Immune health and infection
- Research fields
- Research technologies
- Research centres
- People
- Alistair Brown
- Anne-Laure Puaux
- Assoc Prof Joanna Groom
- Associate Profesor Ian Majewski
- Associate Professor Aaron Jex
- Associate Professor Andrew Webb
- Associate Professor Chris Tonkin
- Associate Professor Diana Hansen
- Associate Professor Edwin Hawkins
- Associate Professor Ethan Goddard-Borger
- Associate Professor Gemma Kelly
- Associate Professor Grant Dewson
- Associate Professor Isabelle Lucet
- Associate Professor James Vince
- Associate Professor Jason Tye-Din
- Associate Professor Jeanne Tie
- Associate Professor Jeff Babon
- Associate Professor Joan Heath
- Associate Professor John Wentworth
- Associate Professor Justin Boddey
- Associate Professor Kate Sutherland
- Associate Professor Kelly Rogers
- Associate Professor Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat
- Associate Professor Melissa Call
- Associate Professor Misty Jenkins
- Associate Professor Nawaf Yassi
- Associate Professor Oliver Sieber
- Associate Professor Rachel Wong
- Associate Professor Rhys Allan
- Associate Professor Rosie Watson
- Associate Professor Ruth Kluck
- Associate Professor Shalin Naik
- Associate Professor Sumitra Ananda
- Associate Professor Tim Thomas
- Associate Professor Tracy Putoczki
- Chela Niall
- Deborah Carr
- Dr Alisa Glukhova
- Dr Anna Coussens
- Dr Ashley Ng
- Dr Belinda Phipson
- Dr Ben Tran
- Dr Bernhard Lechtenberg
- Dr Brad Sleebs
- Dr Drew Berry
- Dr Gwo Yaw Ho
- Dr Hamish King
- Dr Hui-Li Wong
- Dr Jacqui Gulbis
- Dr Jim Whittle
- Dr Lucy Gately
- Dr Margaret Lee
- Dr Mary Ann Anderson
- Dr Maryam Rashidi
- Dr Matthew Call
- Dr Nadia Davidson
- Dr Nadia Kershaw
- Dr Philippe Bouillet
- Dr Rebecca Feltham
- Dr Rory Bowden
- Dr Samir Taoudi
- Dr Sarah Best
- Dr Saskia Freytag
- Dr Shabih Shakeel
- Dr Sheau Wen Lok
- Dr Stephin Vervoort
- Dr Yunshun Chen
- Guillaume Lessene
- Helene Martin
- Joh Kirby
- Kaye Wycherley
- Keely Bumsted O'Brien
- Mr Mark Eaton
- Mr Simon Monard
- Mr Steve Droste
- Ms Carolyn MacDonald
- Professor Alan Cowman
- Professor Andreas Strasser
- Professor Andrew Lew
- Professor Andrew Roberts
- Professor Anne Voss
- Professor Clare Scott
- Professor Daniel Gray
- Professor David Huang
- Professor David Komander
- Professor David Vaux
- Professor Doug Hilton
- Professor Geoff Lindeman
- Professor Gordon Smyth
- Professor Ian Wicks
- Professor Ivo Mueller
- Professor James McCarthy
- Professor James Murphy
- Professor Jane Visvader
- Professor Jerry Adams
- Professor John Silke
- Professor Ken Shortman
- Professor Leanne Robinson
- Professor Leonard C Harrison
- Professor Lynn Corcoran
- Professor Marc Pellegrini
- Professor Marco Herold
- Professor Marnie Blewitt
- Professor Matthew Ritchie
- Professor Melanie Bahlo
- Professor Melissa Davis
- Professor Mike Lawrence
- Professor Nicos Nicola
- Professor Peter Colman
- Professor Peter Czabotar
- Professor Peter Gibbs
- Professor Phil Hodgkin
- Professor Sandra Nicholson
- Professor Sant-Rayn Pasricha
- Professor Seth Masters
- Professor Stephen Nutt
- Professor Suzanne Cory
- Professor Terry Speed
- Professor Tony Papenfuss
- Professor Wai-Hong Tham
- Professor Warren Alexander
- Diseases
- Education
- PhD
- Honours
- Masters
- Clinician-scientist training
- Undergraduate
- Student research projects
- A multi-pronged approach to targeting myeloproliferative neoplasms
- A new paradigm of machine learning-based structural variant detection
- A whole lot of junk or a treasure trove of discovery?
- Advanced imaging interrogation of pathogen induced NETosis
- Analysing the metabolic interactions in brain cancer
- Atopic dermatitis causes and treatments
- Building a cell history recorder using synthetic biology for longitudinal patient monitoring
- Characterisation of malaria parasite proteins exported into infected liver cells
- Deciphering the heterogeneity of the tissue microenvironment by multiplexed 3D imaging
- Defining the mechanisms of thymic involution and regeneration
- Delineating the molecular and cellular origins of liver cancer to identify therapeutic targets
- Developing computational methods for spatial transcriptomics data
- Developing drugs to block malaria transmission
- Developing models for prevention of hereditary ovarian cancer
- Developing statistical frameworks for analysing next generation sequencing data
- Development and mechanism of action of novel antimalarials
- Development of novel RNA sequencing protocols for gene expression analysis
- Discoveries in red blood cell production and function
- Discovery and targeting of novel regulators of transcription
- Dissecting host cell invasion by the diarrhoeal pathogen Cryptosporidium
- Dissecting mechanisms of cytokine signalling
- Doublecortin-like kinases, drug targets in cancer and neurological disorders
- Epigenetic biomarkers of tuberculosis infection
- Exploiting cell death pathways in regulatory T cells for cancer immunotherapy
- Exploiting the cell death pathway to fight Schistosomiasis
- Finding treatments for chromatin disorders of intellectual disability
- Functional epigenomics in human B cells
- How do nutrition interventions and interruption of malaria infection influence development of immunity in sub-Saharan African children?
- Human lung protective immunity to tuberculosis
- Improving therapy in glioblastoma multiforme by activating complimentary programmed cell death pathways
- Innovating novel diagnostic tools for infectious disease control
- Integrative analysis of single cell RNAseq and ATAC-seq data
- Interaction with Toxoplasma parasites and the brain
- Interactions between tumour cells and their microenvironment in non-small cell lung cancer
- Investigation of a novel cell death protein
- Malaria: going bananas for sex
- Mapping spatial variation in gene and transcript expression across tissues
- Multi-modal computational investigation of single-cell communication in metastatic cancer
- Nanoparticle delivery of antibody mRNA into cells to treat liver diseases
- Naturally acquired immune response to malaria parasites
- Organoid-based discovery of new drug combinations for bowel cancer
- Organoid-based precision medicine approaches for oral cancer
- Removal of tissue contaminations from RNA-seq data
- Reversing antimalarial resistance in human malaria parasites
- Role of glycosylation in malaria parasite infection of liver cells, red blood cells and mosquitoes
- Screening for novel genetic causes of primary immunodeficiency
- Statistical analysis of single-cell multi-omics data
- Structural and functional analysis of epigenetic multi-protein complexes in genome regulation
- Structure, dynamics and impact of extra-chromosomal DNA in cancer
- Targeted deletion of disease-causing T cells
- Targeting cell death pathways in tissue Tregs to treat inflammatory diseases
- The cellular and molecular calculation of life and death in lymphocyte regulation
- The role of hypoxia in cell death and inflammation
- The role of ribosylation in co-ordinating cell death and inflammation
- Understanding Plasmodium falciparum invasion of red blood cells
- Understanding cellular-cross talk within a tumour microenvironment
- Understanding the genetics of neutrophil maturation
- Understanding the roles of E3 ubiquitin ligases in health and disease
- Unveiling the heterogeneity of small cell lung cancer
- Using combination immunotherapy to tackle heterogeneous brain tumours
- Using intravital microscopy for immunotherapy against brain tumours
- Using nanobodies to understand malaria invasion and transmission
- Using structural biology to understand programmed cell death
- School resources
- Frequently asked questions
- Student profiles
- Abebe Fola
- Andrew Baldi
- Anna Gabrielyan
- Ashley Weir
- Bridget Dorizzi
- Casey Ah-Cann
- Catia Pierotti
- Emma Nolan
- Huon Wong
- Jasmine Rou
- Jing Deng
- Joy Liu
- Kaiseal Sarson-Lawrence
- Komal Patel
- Krishneel Prasa
- Lilly Backshell
- Malvika Kharbanda
- Megan Kent
- Naomi Jones
- Pailene Lim
- Rebecca Delconte
- Roberto Bonelli
- Rune Larsen
- Runyu Mao
- Sarah Garner
- Simona Seizova
- Sophie Collard
- Wayne Cawthorne
- Wil Lehmann
- Yanxiang Meng
- Zhong Yan Gan
- Miles Horton
- Alexandra Gurzau
- Student achievements
- Student association
- Learning Hub
- News
- Donate
- Online donation
- Ways to support
- Support outcomes
- Supporter stories
- Rotarians against breast cancer
- A partnership to improve treatments for cancer patients
- 20 years of cancer research support from the Helpman family
- A generous gift from a cancer survivor
- A gift to support excellence in Australian medical research
- An enduring friendship
- Anonymous donor helps bridge the 'valley of death'
- Renewed support for HIV eradication project
- Searching for solutions to muscular dystrophy
- Supporting research into better treatments for colon cancer
- Taking a single cell focus with the DROP-seq
- WEHI.TV
Researchers discover milk protein enables survival of the species
3 March 2015
have discovered that MCL-1 is critical for survival
of the species.
Australian researchers have discovered the protein MCL-1 is critical for keeping milk-producing cells alive and sustaining milk production in the breast. Without milk production, offspring cannot survive, making MCL-1 essential for survival of mammalian species.
Dr Nai Yang Fu, Professor Geoff Lindeman and Professor Jane Visvader from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute led the research, published today in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
Professor Visvader said MCL-1 was found to be an important regulator of breast development and its milk-producing cells. “This study has unlocked one of the key survival factors in the mammary gland,” Professor Visvader said.
“MCL-1 is important for all stages of breast development, from puberty to pregnancy and lactation. Based on this discovery, it is reasonable to believe that every mammal requires MCL-1 for milk production and, ultimately, the survival of their offspring.”
Integral for cell survival
Dr Fu said MCL-1 levels increased dramatically in the breast within 12 hours of giving birth. “We were able to use very sensitive technologies to determine that stem cells and luminal cells were the breast cells that most critically rely on MCL-1,” Dr Fu said. “Luminal cells are the cells that line breast ducts and respond to hormones during puberty, pregnancy and lactation. It now seems clear that MCL-1 is integral to the survival of these cells.”
Professor Visvader said the discovery further underscored the importance of MCL-1 for cell survival. “In addition to our discovery, a number of recent research studies at our institute have shown that MCL-1 is important for the survival of certain immune cells, and for the survival and growth of cancers including leukaemia and lymphoma,” she said.
“Stem cells and luminal progenitor cells both require MCL-1 for their survival. Our team has previously implicated both these cell types in some types of breast cancer, raising the question of whether MCL-1 is an important target for developing anti-cancer drugs.”
Professor Lindeman said the research also identified that EGF – a growth factor – works in tandem with MCL-1 during lactation. “EGF has emerged as a key inducer of MCL-1 at the switch to lactation,” he said. “It will be important to determine whether this mechanism also operates in breast cancer, as this could reveal new ways of targeting the disease.”
Unlocking breast cancer secrets
Professor Lindeman, Professor Visvader and their breast cancer research team have spent the past 15 years unravelling the secrets of normal breast development in a bid to improve our understanding, and ultimately treatment, of breast cancer.
“You cannot fully understand how breast cancers arise without understanding normal development in the breast,” Professor Visvader said. “This is an exciting time for our research team. Some of the discoveries we have made on breast development and how it goes awry in cancer have helped to identify potential targets for therapy, leading to preclinical studies and clinical trials aimed at breast cancer treatment or prevention.”
The work was carried out with Walter and Eliza Hall Institute bioinformaticians Mr Aaron Lun, who is also a student at The University of Melbourne, and Professor Gordon Smyth, and collaborators Ms Rina Soetanto and Professor Thomas Preiss from the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University. The research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Cancer Research Foundation, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Cure Cancer Australia Foundation and the Victorian Government. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is a partner in the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Further information:
Liz Williams
Media and Publications Manager
M: 0428 034 089
E: williams@wehi.edu.au