Descripción del proyecto
Proteínas antivirales contra enfermedades víricas en acuicultura
La acuicultura es el sector de producción animal que crece más rápidamente del mundo. El mayor desafío global para la producción acuícola son las enfermedades infecciosas, que provocan la pérdida del 10 % todos los animales acuáticos criados. La acuicultura intensiva aumenta las enfermedades provocadas por bacterias, virus y parásitos. Sin embargo, hay algunas vacunas, escasas y no totalmente eficaces, para las enfermedades víricas en acuicultura, si bien no hay tratamientos antivirales para los peces no vacunados. Durante un estudio anterior, un grupo de investigadores financiados por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación (CEI) identificó ciertas proteínas antivirales en los eritroblastos de la trucha arco iris que participan en la protección frente a infecciones víricas. El proyecto AntiVirFish, financiado por el CEI, realizará una prueba de concepto de las moléculas antivíricas identificadas y evaluará la oportunidad de negocio que representan.
Objetivo
In the last decades aquaculture seems to be the only real alternative for global fish food supply. At present, the aquaculture world production has reached 82.1 million tons worldwide representing the fastest growing animal production sector in the world. Among aquaculture species, salmonid aquaculture, trout and salmon species, are the highest-value species for global and European aquaculture. The biggest global constraint to aquaculture production is disease with an estimate of a 10% of all cultured aquatic animals lost because of infectious diseases, amounting to >10 billion USD in losses annually on a global scale. Among infectious diseases, viral outbreaks are a serious concern, since they are an impediment to the development, productivity, and profitability of fish farms. Intensive fish farming amplifies diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites, resulting in severe losses. Few vaccines are available for viral diseases in aquaculture and they are not completely effective. Moreover, up to date there are not antiviral therapeutic treatments to mitigate the outbreaks in unvaccinated fish or to diminish the percentage of losses do not covered by prophylactics vaccines. During my ERC Starting Grant our group identified a number of antiviral proteins in rainbow trout nucleated red blood cells (RBCs) implicated in halting viral infections. The OBJECTIVE of this project is to perform a Proof of Concept of the antiviral molecules previosuly identified. We will evaluate the new business opportunity of introducing a new antiviral therapeutic that decreases viral infection and related economic loss in aquaculture.
Ámbito científico
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesfisheries
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseases
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsvaccines
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandry
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsInstitución de acogida
03202 Elche
España