Project description
Gut microbiome in allogeneic stem cell transplantation therapy
Our gut is inhabited by a diverse community of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi. Collectively known as gut microbiota, it plays a central role in various physiological functions vital for human health. Funded by the European Research Council, the MICROBOTS project explores the impact of gut and tissue-associated microbiomes on the outcome of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT), a common therapy for haematologic malignancies. Microbial signatures linked to positive clinical results are expected to guide tissue regeneration and protect against immune-mediated damage. The study aims to characterise microbiome-host interactions in allo-SCT patients and evaluate faecal microbiota transplantation as a potential strategy for minimising graft-versus-host disease and securing clinical success.
Objective
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) is the most common cellular immunotherapy for hematologic malignancies, but beneficial outcomes are limited by severe morbidity and mortality by graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) and by relapse as a consequence of insufficient antitumor immune response (graft-vs-leukemia, GVL). In allo-SCT patients, a diverse gut microbiome is associated with beneficial clinical outcomes and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) emerges as a promising therapeutic option for acute gastrointestinal GVHD patients. Yet, how the gut and tissue-associated microbiome governs immune function and tissue homeostasis remains poorly understood.
We identified microbial signatures - i.e. configurations of microbial communities and their associated immune-modulatory metabolites - in allo-SCT patients that (i) favourably associate with clinical outcomes, (ii) can engage an Interferon (IFN)-I inducing pathway to induce tissue regeneration, and (iii) protect mice from immune-mediated tissue damage.
We therefore hypothesize that gut and tissue-associated microbial consortia and their immune-modulatory metabolites serve as a game changer for allo-SCT. “MICROBOTS” will test this by (i) providing a thorough characterization of microbiome/metabolome-host interaction at the epithelial interface in allo-SCT patients with or without GVHD, relapse and undergoing FMT and (ii) evaluating the functional impact of identified microbial signatures in advanced preclinical models of GVL and GVHD. These novel insights will provide a template for the design of a Precision FMT approach with defined microbial-metabolite cocktails aimed to achieve robust and durable antitumor responses in allo-SCT patients as well as to improve tissue regeneration and minimize immune-mediated side effects (GVHD).
This may induce a paradigm-shift in clinical allo-SCT protocols and potentially other T cell transfer therapies (CAR/TCR T cells) in cancer treatment as a whole.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine emergency medicine graft versus host disease
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology immunotherapy
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine transplantation
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology leukemia
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
93053 REGENSBURG
Germany
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