Muscle Proteomics Group
GROUP MEMBERS
- Associate Professor Nicole Beard (Leader)
- Mrs Amanda Denniss (PhD student)
- Mr Peter Thurgar (Honours student)
- Mr Alexander Dashwood (visiting PhD student student, co-supervised at QUT/UQ)
- Mr Spenser Richardson (visiting PhD student, co-supervised at JCSMR, ANU)
RESEARCH THEMES
Research within the Muscle Proteomics Group is focussed on understanding how intracellular calcium signalling pathways initiate muscle contraction. We explore and define the mechanisms which lead to control of calcium signalling and the way in which these are disrupted in skeletal myopathies, cardiomyopathies and heart failure.
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
- Understanding the triggers for fatal arrhythmia in patients with heart failure.
- Identificationof novel compounds to treat arrhythmia.
- Uncovering the mechanisms leading to calcium overload and muscle weakness in sarcopenic.
- Determining how disrupted communication between proteins in the luminal calcium stores leads to skeletal myopathy in patients treated with statins (high cholesterol drugs).
(A) Representative trace illustrating single cell cardiomyocyte contractility. (B) Representative single ryanodine receptor ion channel activity, illustrating excess activity and calcium release upon treatment with chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin. Channel activity is shown as upward inflections of the solid baseline.
COLLABORATIONS
- Professor Angela Dulhunty (JCSMR, ANU)
- Professor Bob Dirksen (U Rochester USA)
- Professor Derek Laver (U Newcastle)
- Professor Stuart Cordwell (U Syd)
- Professor Paul Smith (The Canberra Hospital)
- Professor Roland Goecke (UC)
- Professor David Pyne (UC)
- Associate Professor Peter Molenaar (QUT)
- Associate Professor Johanna Lanner (Karolinska Institute, Sweden)
- Dr Narora Etxebarria (UC)
CURRENT RESEARCH FUNDING
- National Heart Foundation