Project description
Drug development by tapping into a new chemical space
Most small molecule drugs bind to enzymes or receptor proteins that have well-defined binding pockets. However, generating small molecules that interfere with protein-protein interactions or against flat proteins has proved technically challenging. The EU-funded TARGET project aims to address this problem through an automatic platform capable of identifying ligands that bind to challenging or undruggable proteins. Researchers will combine genetically encoded peptide libraries with chemical compound libraries to tap into an enormous chemical space and identify combinations that bind to challenging protein targets. The TARGET methodology is expected to support future discovery efforts of cell permeable drugs against challenging proteins.
Objective
"Genome sequencing combined with powerful new research technologies has greatly expanded the number of potential drug targets, offering enormous opportunities to address unmet medical needs. However, for proteins with flat, featureless surfaces or for protein-protein interactions, it has been difficult to impossible to generate ligands based on classical small molecules, hindering their evaluation as targets and the development of drugs.
Herein, we propose a new method and its application for targeting the so-called ""undruggable"" proteins by tapping into a new chemical space, generated by ""merging"" biological and chemical compound libraries. In brief, millions of short cyclic peptides (46 amino acids) genetically encoded by phage display (generated with methods we established previously) will be expanded by combinatorially attaching via lateral groups > 1000 different chemical fragments in separate wells of microwell plates. We will develop a strategy that combines the elements of i) automation, ii) liquid transfer by acoustic dispensing, iii) single-round phage display panning, iv) ""phage PCR"" and a primer coding strategy, v) next-generation sequencing (NGS) and vi) computational sequence analysis to perform phage display selections with a library comprising > 1000 non-natural building blocks.
We expect that this technology will deliver ligands to challenging proteins and facilitate their evaluation as drug targets. The ligands are kept small on purpose, below one kDa, and the polarity is limited so that they are more likely to be cell permeable and so they may directly serve as leads for the generation of oral drugs.
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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.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- social sciences sociology industrial relations automation
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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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)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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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.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-ADG
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1015 LAUSANNE
Switzerland
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