We study the model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) to understand how animal cells communicate during development. We also apply Drosophila to understand the basis of human disease and discover new treatment strategies.
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Cell signalling in development
We study several systems to learn about mechanisms that control how cells communicate with one another (cell signalling).
1. Spatial control of embryonic terminal patterning
The process by which the ends (or termini) of the early embryo become defined is called terminal patterning. This occurs via a set of maternal proteins that activate a highly conserved cell signalling cascade only in the terminal regions. Understanding how spatial control is achieved and the mechanisms at work are of key interest to our lab. Such mechanisms are likely to be operating during our own development.
2. Control of macrophage self-renewal
Macrophages are blood cells that engulf and destroy pathogens, dead cells and foreign particles and are critical for not only immunity but also general tissue health and damage repair. Their population size in the body is highly dynamic and under tight control. Too many will deplete energy reserves and risk auto-immune diseases. Too few and pathogens and toxins build up and risk survival. What signals tell macrophages to proliferate and how this process is controlled are not well understood. We are using Drosophila to shed light on this - fly larvae have a large macrophage population that can be easily counted and genetically manipulated, and the molecules that have been discovered so far in this process, are highly conserved with mammals.
human disease modelling for treatment discovery
Defining diets to treat inborn errors of amino acid metabolism
Inborn errors of amino acid metabolism are a group of rare genetic diseases for which treatment with diet alteration has shown dramatic promise. However their rarity make them difficult to study and treat. This project is creating fruit flies with these diseases to test whether tailored diets can restore their health. Flies are cheap to study and easy to manipulate, and since their metabolic system is very similar to ours, we are using them as a rapid path to understand and treat these diseases. This work is in collaboration with Dr Matthew Piper and funded by an NHMRC Ideas Grant.