Oxidation Biology Group
Our group is focused on studying the pathways that cause different neurodegenerative diseases, especially those pathways where metal ions like zinc, copper, and iron interact with important proteins. We’ve discovered many ways in which these metals contribute to the oxidative stress that can lead to these diseases. Our studies have given us new ideas for potential drugs that could be used to treat conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.
Research interests
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Techniques
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About our research
Our research is currently focused on three main areas:
- Blood testing to predict and distinguish between different types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. We are working with the Australian Imaging Biomarker and Lifestyle Study and Scott Ayton’s Centre of Research Excellence for Extending Dementia Diagnostics to get this test approved for clinical use in Australia.
- Understanding why metals like iron and copper become unbalanced in the brain during neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. We hope to use this knowledge to find new treatments for these conditions.
- Developing mRNA therapy for genetic childhood dementias, starting with Niemann-Pick Disease Type C, a form of incurable childhood dementia.
Research team
Research team head
Team members
Dr Emilio Werden
Strategy Lead
Celeste Mawal
Laboratory Manager
PHD students
Andrew Gleason
PhD student
Liouba Le Roux
PhD student
Mahi Mhatre
PhD student
Masters
Pei Fen Tan
Masters student
Kaida Wu
Masters student
Jessica Zhang
Masters student
Selected publications
- Ayton S, Portbury S, Kalinowski P, Agarwal P, Diouf I, Schneider JA, Morris MC and Bush AI (2021), ‘Regional brain iron associated with deterioration in Alzheimer’s disease: a large cohort study and theoretical significance’ Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 17(7):1244–1256, doi:10.1002/alz.12282
- Greenough MA, Lane DJR, Balez R, Anastacio HTD, Zeng Z, Ganio K, McDevitt CA, Acevedo K, Belaidi AA, Koistinaho J, Ooi L, Ayton S and Bush AI (2022), ‘Selective ferroptosis vulnerability due to familial Alzheimer’s disease presenilin mutations’, Cell Death & Differentiation, (11):2123–2136, doi:10.1038/s41418-022-01003-1
- Furtado D, Cortez-Jugo C, Hung YH, Bush AI and Caruso F (2022), ‘mRNA treatment rescues Niemann–Pick disease type C1 in patient fibroblasts’, Molecular Pharmaceutics, 19(11):3987–3999, doi:10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00463
- Ayton S, Janelidze S, Kalinowski P, Palmqvist S, Belaidi AA, Stomrud E, Roberts A, Roberts B, Hansson O and Bush AI (2022), ‘CSF ferritin in the clinicopathological progression of Alzheimer’s disease and associations with APOE and inflammation biomarkers’, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 94(3):211–219, doi:10.1136/jnnp-2022-330052
- Lotan A, Luza S, Opazo CM, Ayton S, Lane DJR, Mancuso S, Pereira A, Sundram S, Weickert CS, Bousman CA, Pantelis C, Everall IP and Bush AI (2023), ‘Perturbed iron biology in the prefrontal cortex of people with schizophrenia’, Molecular Psychiatry, 28(5):2058–2070, doi:10.1038/s41380-023-01979-3
Contact us
For more information about our group’s research you can contact us by submitting this form.
