Pre-clinical development of a liver fluke growth factor for treating non-healing wounds (Old ID 23529)
Role
Principal Investigator
Description
This research proposal aims to develop more effective treatments for wound healing, improving treatment options for diabetic patients in Australia and eventually worldwide. This is likely to alleviate suffering from the disease and also decrease the AUD$3.6 billion financial burden of diabetic wound ulcers on the healthcare system. Although we showed that the liver fluke granulin protein has wound healing properties, it is difficult to produce in recombinant form. We have now developed a minimized version of granulin and produce it as a synthetic peptide that when applied topically displays wound-healing properties as potent as the full-length protein. Using the peptide as a topical agent is ideal because it capitalizes on the potency and specificity often associated with peptide-based drugs but does not require the high levels of bioavailability necessary for orally administered drugs. Our research will also provide advances in the field regarding the structure and folding of Ov-GRN-1, which will be of significant interest to researchers working specifically on growth factors and more broadly for those working on disulphide-rich peptides and proteins. Moreover, we believe that our decision to be guided in drug discovery by millennia of host-parasite coevolution will ensure that the most efficacious and safe drugs are identified and developed.
Date
01 Aug 2017 - 30 Jun 2020
Project Type
DONATION
Keywords
Liver Fluke;Growth Factor;Wound Repair;Therapeutics;Diabetes
Funding Body
Merchant Charitable Foundation
Amount
450000
Project Team
Norelle Daly;Paramjit Bansal;Michael Smout