Project description
Anticancer therapeutics delivered by bacteria
Certain bacterial strains have an inherent capacity to target tumours and can in principle serve as an alternative anticancer strategy. Engineering these bacteria as delivery vehicles for cancer therapeutics is however limited by the inability of the therapeutic agents to enter the cancer cells. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the BacStar project has come up with a solution for this. Researchers propose to design and produce proteins capable of transporting themselves from the bacterial cell into the cancer cell. Through a computational protein design platform, they will identify proteins with transport capacity and anticancer activity for further experimental testing.
Objective
Conventional cancer therapies have many limitations that could potentially be overcome using engineered tumour targeting bacteria as cancer therapeutics. These bacteria have been shown to selectively grow in tumours where they can produce and deliver therapeutic biomolecules (proteins) extracellularly in the tumour microenvironment. However, the delivery of these biomolecules into the cytoplasm of targeted tumour cells remains a challenge, limiting the clinical translation of these therapies.
BacStar aims to address delivery challenges by designing multi-part, multifunctional proteins that transport themselves from the interior of the bacterium into the cytoplasm of cancer cells where they can exert therapeutic action. These proteins will integrate protein motifs for transport (using novel cell penetrating peptides) and anticancer activity, which will be assembled using recently developed computational protein design workflows. A modular design-build-test synthetic biology approach will facilitate measurability and experimental throughput. Novel proteins will be tested in vitro and in vivo with high-throughput methods available at host labs. This interdisciplinary approach is enabled by leveraging cutting-edge expertise and technologies in computational protein design from the Bhardwaj and Baker Lab at the Institute for Protein Design, UW (USA) and in bacterial cancer therapy available at the Tangney Lab, UCC (Ireland). An international intersectoral placement at Prokarium (UK) will support the clinical translation of outputs from this project and build my expertise in translational research, which will inform the commercialisation route of this and future projects.
My long-term career aim is to develop bacteria-delivered protein therapeutics. BacStar is a significant career opportunity to transition to independence with the active support of world leaders in their fields and gaining industry R&D experience which is key for the advance of these biotherapeutics.
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 bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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.
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
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.
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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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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.
T12 YN60 Cork
Ireland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.