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Senior Research Fellow
The interleukin (IL)-6 family of cytokines and exaggerated signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 signaling is implicated in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) pathogenesis, but the mechanisms regulating STAT3 expression and function are unknown. Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)1 and SOCS3 block STAT3, and low SOCS1 levels have been reported in IPF fibroblasts and shown to facilitate collagen production. Fibroblasts and lung tissue from IPF patients and controls were used to examine the mechanisms underlying SOCS1 down-regulation in IPF.
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL; Leishmania donovani) cases produce interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor in response to soluble leishmanial antigen in whole-blood assays. Using transcriptional profiling, we demonstrate the impact of interleukin-10, a cytokine implicated in VL, on this response.
The recent increase in babies born with brain and eye malformations in Brazil is associated with Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in utero. ZIKV alters host DNA methylation in vitro. Using genome-wide DNA methylation profiling we compared 18 babies born with congenital ZIKV microcephaly with 20 controls. We found ZIKV-associated alteration of host methylation patterns, notably at RABGAP1L which is important in brain development, at viral host immunity genes MX1 and ISG15, and in an epigenetic module containing the causal microcephaly gene MCPH1. Our data support the hypothesis that clinical signs of congenital ZIKV are associated with changes in DNA methylation.
Here we focus on more recent well-powered genome-wide association studies, including malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis, and visceral leishmaniasis
This data set provides a useful reference point for genomic studies on Aboriginal Australians
Multiethnic associations between T2D and SNPs at TCF7L2, CAPN10 and HHEX extend to Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Sudan
The Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases Diagnostic Service refers to a genomic diagnostic platform operating within the Genetic Services of Western Australia
These findings also suggest that variants in ERAP1 have a differential impact on the risk of AAU when compared with AS, and hence the genetic risk for AAU...
Identified an association between polymorphisms in a long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA) gene (AC011288.2) and pneumococcal bacteremia