Objective
Visceral leishmaniasis is caused by the protozoan parasites Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum and is a potentially fatal disease in endemic areas around the world. During the infectious cycle, Leishmania alternate between the insect promastigote stage and the vertebrate aflagellate amastigote stage that proliferates inside infected host macrophages provoking the pathology of the disease. This consortium uses a highly interdisciplinary approach to reveal Leishmania signaling molecules associated with amastigote virulence, with the major aim to exploit parasite-specific pathways for anti-leishmanial drug development. We use innovative drug screening concepts not applied previously on parasitic systems. We will utilize visual high-content screening to discover compounds capable to kill intracellular Leishmania amastigotes without deteriorating the host cell. This phenotype-based strategy relies on fluorescent parasites and macrophages as read-outs and will allow simultaneous assessment of anti-leishmanial activity and host cell toxicity under physiological conditions. We will apply a target-based strategy utilizing recombinant Leishmania protein kinases for inhibitor identification and structure-guided drug design. The identification of appropriate target kinases, with only limited homology to their mammalian counterparts will rely on in silico analysis by applying novel bioinformatic tools developed by consortium members, and in vitro assay based on their phospho-transferase activity towards recombinant Leishmania phospho-proteins. The major objectives of this proposal are (i) to screen small molecule and peptide libraries for hit compounds with leishmanicidal activity using phenotype- and target-based strategies, (ii) to identify anti-parasitic lead compounds and assess their pharmacokinetic profiles using cell-culture and experimental infection models for leishmaniasis, and (iii) to initiate lead optimization by structure-based drug design.
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 basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- medical and health sciences basic medicine medicinal chemistry
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
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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.
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.
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.
FP7-HEALTH-2007-B
See other projects for this call
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.
Coordinator
75724 Paris
France
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.