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The complement system is a key component of innate immunity that offers sophisticated protection against threats to the host organism. Complement is also an important component of tumour antibody-based immunotherapy by mediating tumour cell cytolysis. This project investigate how complement initation is controlled by redox switches identified in complement components.
Camperdown - Centenary Institute
Masters/PHD
The complement system is a key component of innate immunity. Activation of complement leads to a cascade of proteolytic events that eventually results in the destruction of pathogens. Imbalance of complement activity can be deleterious. Excessive complement activity contributes to Alzheimer's disease, whereas its deficiency leads to increased susceptibility to infection. Using a bioinformatics approach, we have identified labile disulphide bonds that can be potential redox switches in complement proteins. This project aims to elucidate how the activity of complement proteins are regulated by these labile disulphide bonds
• Techniques involved: proteomics, flow cytometry, enzyme kinetics and molecular biology.
• Reference: Pijning, A. E., Chiu, J., Yeo, R. X., Wong, J. W. H., and Hogg, P. J. (2018) Identification of allosteric disulfides from labile bonds in X-ray structures. R Soc Open Sci 5, 171058
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 2509