Innovating Works

PANDORA

Financiado
Pandemics Outbreaks Rationalized towards a universal therapy to eliminate intra...
Pandemics Outbreaks Rationalized towards a universal therapy to eliminate intracellular pathogens and drug resistance I propose here a research vision that aims to revolutionise the way we cure infections caused by intracellular pathogens, with the aim to find a universal therapy to infectious diseases that will also counteract the development of... I propose here a research vision that aims to revolutionise the way we cure infections caused by intracellular pathogens, with the aim to find a universal therapy to infectious diseases that will also counteract the development of drug resistance. In PANDORA, I will specifically focus on eradicating human tuberculosis, one of the worst pandemics so far. To do this, I will first probe what are the molecular ‘bar-codes’ of infected cells, namely those specific membrane proteins that cells express upon infection. I will use this to reversely engineer a repertoire of super-selective polymeric nanoparticles - known as Polymersomes - that will carry ligands to recognise, bind, and selectively attack infected cells only, while leaving non-infected cells completely untouched. Such nanocarriers will access the infected cells and locally deliver their payload, which is the core technology of the therapy. Such technology will be inspired by what nature invented: I will reproduce the binding sequence of autolisins, proteins expressed by bacteriophages that specifically bind the wall of Mycobacteria species (the agent causing tuberculosis). I will thus create fusion antibodies (Ab) characterized by (i) the binding sequence of mycobacteriophages autolisins (for selective recognising intracellular Mycobacterial wall) and (ii) an effector region promoting bacterial clearance through either the macrophage-triggered phagocytosis or an ubiquitin-proteasome system. This therapy will represent a complete revolution in the field of new antimicrobial development, as it will combine complete bacterial eradication, development of memory immunity and fight against drug resistance, the three core pillars of this project. The super-selective polymersomes carrying the Abs-based universal therapy will be combined with the development of chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T) against infection. These T-cells will be designed to chase and eradicate circulating infected cells in model organism. ver más
30/09/2025
UMIL
1M€
Duración del proyecto: 69 meses Fecha Inicio: 2019-12-05
Fecha Fin: 2025-09-30

Línea de financiación: concedida

El organismo H2020 notifico la concesión del proyecto el día 2019-12-05
Línea de financiación objetivo El proyecto se financió a través de la siguiente ayuda:
ERC-2019-STG: ERC Starting Grant
Cerrada hace 6 años
Presupuesto El presupuesto total del proyecto asciende a 1M€
Líder del proyecto
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO No se ha especificado una descripción o un objeto social para esta compañía.
Perfil tecnológico TRL 4-5