Objective
Often reported in the public press as “Stomach Flu” or “Winter Vomiting Disease”, noroviruses are the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the developed world, with frequent outbreaks in closed environments (e.g. hospitals, schools, etc). Outbreaks in hospitals result in substantial economic losses (>100 million € per year in UK), but more importantly put additional pressures on health care services. With the ongoing influenza virus pandemic, it is essential health care services run efficiently, however the winter seasonal peak of norovirus outbreaks will coincide with that of influenza virus and will undoubtedly have a major impact on hospital facilities. Hence new antiviral strategies against noroviruses are essential, yet there are currently no effective treatments to control these pathogens. This proposal aims to explore the use of a new potential antiviral approach based on inhibitory RNA aptamers. Aptamers are single-stranded nucleic acids selected by robotic procedures to have high affinity for a target molecule and its binding often results in specific inhibition. Norovirus replication is catalysed by viral polymerase which may constitute an attractive target for anti-viral therapy. We will identify aptamers against polymerases from 2 different noroviruses: Norwalk virus, the prototypic human virus, and murine norovirus (MNV), that provides us with cell culture and in vivo systems to study norovirus replication. We will investigate if administration of aptamers in mice prevent establishment of MNV infections in vivo. For an efficient delivery of aptamer RNAs to the intestinal tract we will make use of a newly developed technique reliant on invasive non-pathogenic bacteria that enter intestine cells to express therapeutic RNAs. This approach will constitute a proof-of-principle that a probiotic approach may be effective in controlling norovirus infections in vivo and provide a possible avenue for the control of these important pathogens.
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 biochemistry biomolecules nucleic acids
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases RNA viruses influenza
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA
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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-PEOPLE-2009-IEF
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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
SW7 2AZ London
United Kingdom
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.