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UQNEWS, FEBRUARY 2009 ➔ 18CELL SACRIFICEDNA can spell danger, and mayeven drive a cell to suicide,according to new research fromQueensland scientists.A team led by Dr Kate Stacey fromUQ’s Institute for Molecular Biosciencehas discovered how cells sacrificethemselves for the greater good if theyare infected with a virus, with viralDNA being the key to responding toinfection.“Viruses evolve quickly anddetecting viral infection is a challengefor the cell,” Dr Stacey said.The cell is able to recogniseforeign DNA because DNA inmammalian cells is contained within astructure known as the nucleus. Thepresence of DNA outside the nucleusis a sure sign that something iswrong, and may indicate the presenceof a viral invader.By killing itself, the cell canensure that the virus does not spreadthroughout the body.In research published in leadingjournal Science, Dr Stacey and fellowscientists Dr Tara Roberts, ProfessorDavid Hume and PhD student Adi Idrisdiscovered two proteins in mousecells, one of which induced cell suicidein response to foreign DNA, and onethat prevented it.The discovery will improveunderstanding of how cells normallycombat viral infection, and may also berelevant for the disease lupus, wherethe immune system attacks normalcellular proteins.“Lupus is a disease with abnormalresponses to DNA, and we believe thehigh levels of p202 found in mousestrains which develop lupus preventan appropriate response to DNA in thecytoplasm,” Dr Stacey said.The research was funded by theNational Health and Medical ResearchCouncil.STOCK.XCHNGSTOCK.XCHNGIN BRIEFDRUG SURVEYA new study by UQ andthe University of Newcastlehas revealed the most commonlyprescribed medication for Australianwomen is antidepressants.Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme andMedicare data were linked to survey data toexamine claims and costs of medicationsand other health care resources.University of Newcastle studyco-director Professor Julie Byles saideight percent of younger women and14 percent of mid-age women usedantidepressants during the surveyedperiod.Smart STRIKEThe devastation of the severethunderstorms that swept acrossBrisbane’s north-west in Decemberhighlight the importance of reliable,real-time weather forecasting, known as“now-casting”.In a seminar given at the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.Queensland Section’s recent Annual GeneralMeeting, UQ Emeritus Professor Mat Darvenizadescribed recent major advances in nowcastingtechniques.Emeritus Professor Daveniza said thatcombining digital weather radar with thelocation of lightning ground flashes couldprovide real-time information about the severityand likely progress of thunderstorms.“Now-casting techniques used by theBureau of Meteorology are improving our abilityto accurately predict the weather in short timeframes,especially severe thunderstorms,” hesaid.Emeritus Professor Darveniza has had adistinguished career at UQ and is internationallyrecognised for his research on thunderstormsand lightning protection.After many years of university work onelectrical engineering education, high voltagetechnology and lightning protection, his presentresearch interests are the reliability of powersystems, particularly to distribution networkoutages caused by storms.He is also a Life Fellow of the IEEE, theworld’s largest technical professional society.TOP RESEARCHERUQ neuroscientist Dr Michael Piper,from the Queensland Brain Institute,has been named Australia’s toppostdoctoral researcher in the field at arecent conference.Dr Piper was presented with theA.W Campbell Award at this year’sAustralian Neuroscience Society.Dr Piper has also received amuch sought-after National Healthand Medical Research Council(NHMRC) Career Development Award– a program which helps early careerscientists find their niche in thecompetitive world of research.
CANCER RESEARCH AWARDEDShe’s travelled betweenBrisbane and Paris to betterunderstand skin cancer, andnow UQ PhD student MarinaKvaskoff has received a topFrench prize for her research.Ms Kvaskoff, 28, (pictured) is one of only10 academics to win a 2008 L’Oreal France-UNESCO For Women in Science Award, with theprizes presented in Paris last November.The awards are worth 10,000 Euros eachand are given to French women completingPhDs in the life sciences to enable greaterrecognition for their work and build careers intheir chosen fields.“Women are statistically underrepresentedin the sciences, especially in research and morespecifically at the upper professional levels,” MsKvaskoff said.“Young women may see research as anunreachable world; this is indeed the vision I hadof it myself as a young girl. However, womenhave specific resources of their own and I believethey have a lot to bring to research.”Ms Kvaskoff’s PhD focuses on cutaneousmelanoma, and whether its occurrence canbe linked to hormonal, nutritional and geneticcauses.Central to her research is a large Frenchdatabase, the E3N cohort, which listsapproximately 100,000 women born between1925 and 1950 and includes their responses tobi-yearly health surveys.The questionnaires carry information aboutthe group’s exposure to certain factors (includinghormonal treatments, diet, tobacco and alcoholconsumption) and could help explain why certainconditions, including melanoma, develop over time.“During my studies, I have always had aninterest in studying cancer, and have generallydedicated my internships towards cancerresearch,” Ms Kvaskoff said.“I started to study the epidemiology ofcutaneous melanoma in 2005 during aninternship at the Cancer Council Queensland,where I worked on sunburn and solarium use inQueenslanders.”She then completed her masters in France,before deciding to undertake her doctoral studiesas part of a “Cotutelle” program which allowsher to pursue research jointly at the QueenslandInstitute for Medical Research and a Frenchresearch laboratory (Inserm at the Institut GustaveRoussy in Paris).Ms Kvaskoff said her studies stemmed froma desire to promote disease education andprevention, and named Nobel laureate MarieCurie as a research idol.“She was an admirable person who imposedherself as a woman in a mainly male scientificworld, and whose discoveries left their mark inhistory,” she said.STEWART GOULDUQNEWS, FEBRUARY 2009 ➔ 19STOCK.XCHNGGene expression hits USA new gene expression analysisplatform developed in collaborationbetween Australian scientists andInvitrogen Corporation to help otherresearchers understand fundamentalaspects of human development hasbeen launched in the US market.IMBcom Pty Ltd and InvitrogenCorporation have partnered to commercialisethe proprietary non-coding RNA contentdeveloped by researchers at theInstitute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB)at UQ.Professor John Mattick and Dr MarcelDinger, from the IMB, developed contentthat was exclusively licensed to Invitrogen forthe first commercially available high-densitymicroarray chip, the NCodeTM Human andMouse non-coding RNA microarray, whichcan be used by researchers to profile bothmessenger and non-coding RNAs.Standard microarray chips interrogatemessenger RNAs to determine which genes areactive in a cell at any particular moment in time.Non-coding RNAs are not traditional genes, asthey do not produce proteins, but they appearto comprise a vast hidden layer of geneticprogramming implicated in development anddisease pathways in mammals.“Non-coding RNA transcripts playa variety of roles in a cell, ranging fromsimple housekeeping to complex regulatoryfunctions, and evidence is mounting that theirexpression is perturbed in many cancers,”Professor Mattick said.IMBcom, UQ’s company for thecommercialisation of intellectual propertyarising from research conducted at the IMB,licensed the non-coding RNA content toInvitrogen, which will market and sell thearrays built using this content.Our universities matterINVESTING IN PEOPLE & SOCIETYNTEU–Bargaining for YouNational Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) isopen to all General, Academic, Contractand Casual staff. We know higher education.We have a full-time Organiser to assistmembers at UQ.NTEU is currently negotiating with UQmanagement about replacing CollectiveAgreements that expired last year.NTEU is seeking:Improved job security (esp. for Contract staff).Higher wages.Rights for Casual staff.· Fairer workloads.Find out more about the NTEU andCollective Bargaining. Come along to theCollective Bargaining MeetingThurs 19 Feb 12pmRoom E-302 Forgan-SmithTo find out about our work and campaigns and to join onlinevisit www.nteu.org.au. For more information please callthe Branch Office 336 52538 or email nteu@uq.edu.auIt’s an essential investmentin your future!
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