Descrizione del progetto
La prossima generazione di organoidi intestinali per la ricerca sulla malattia infiammatoria intestinale
La malattia infiammatoria intestinale è costituita da una serie di condizioni che implicano l’infiammazione cronica del tratto digerente. Lo sviluppo di nuove piattaforme di modello della malattia è essenziale per la comprensione dei meccanismi fondamentali del disturbo. Il progetto SYNMAT FOR ORGANOIDS, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di sviluppare la prossima generazione di organoidi intestinali umani utilizzando l’incapsulamento microfluidico in nicchie sintetiche. Questa tecnologia consentirà la produzione di massa controllata di organoidi intestinali umani per la modellizzazione delle malattie, lo screening dei farmaci e applicazioni di medicina rigenerativa. La co-coltura di organoidi intestinali umani con cellule immunitarie e microbiota ricreerà le condizioni fisiologiche e fornirà la prossima generazione di organoidi intestinali umani, che ricapitolano il complesso spettro della malattia infiammatoria intestinale, apportando nuove conoscenze sull’eziologia del disturbo.
Obiettivo
Intestinal bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic immune-mediated disorder characterized by a complex spectrum of multifactorial disorders, which affects 2.5-4 million people in Europe with a total annual healthcare cost of €4.6-5.6 billion. The unknown aetiology of IBD, along with its heterogeneous and multifactorial nature, make essential the development of novel disease model platforms that enable the fundamental understanding of the disorder. My project aims to develop the next generation of human intestinal organoids (HIOs) in reproducible and high-throughput fashion by microfluidics encapsulation in synthetic niches. This scalable technology will provide a well-controlled mass production of HIOs for disease modelling, drug screening of novel therapeutic targets, and regenerative medicine applications, filling the translational gap with organoids research. I will co-culture HIOs with immune cells and microbiota to obtain native physiological similarities and to develop the next generation of HIOs, which can effectively recapitulate the complex multifactorial spectrum of IBD and allow the identification of new insights into the pathophysiology of the disorder. MSCA Fellowship will provide me with a unique opportunity to exploit my diverse skill set and take fully advantage of available facilities and partnerships of Prof. Andrés García and Prof. Abhay Pandit, who are uniquely positioned to maximize the output of this project and benefit my future career. I will be trained in both discipline-specific and complementary technical training and generic and complementary transferable skills training through an inter-sectoral secondment on a CÚRAM’s industrial partnership to translate this innovative therapeutic technology to the clinic. The disruptive technology developed through this proposal will represent a step change in our understanding of intestinal disorders and advanced therapies, entailing a great contribution to the European knowledge-based economy and society.
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
H91 Galway
Irlanda