Objective
The innovations of this project are the new targets, identification of completely new lead compounds, a new approach to adjunctive therapy and a new method of delivery of the compounds. Streptococcus pneumoniae imposes a huge disease burden on humans: it is the number one cause of pneumonia and it is the sed most common cause of meningitis. There is a pandemic of multi-drug resistant pneumococci and treatment is compromised. Even if antibiotics kill the bacterium, they can fail to prevent death or neurological damage after meningitis, due to the acute toxaemia. The first event in toxaemia is release of pro-inflammatory or toxic pneumococcal products, probably exacerbated by antibiotics. The pneumococcal toxin pneumolysin fulfils both definitions: it is directly toxic to mammalian cells and it stimulates release of inflammatory mediators from host cells. For this reason and because the toxin is essential for the survival of the bacterium in vivo, pneumolysin will be a target of this project A sed target will be the cell surface proteinases involved in adhesion and invasion, which are important virulence factors for the pneumococcus. These proteins represent new targets and their validation as targets has been done. The new treatment will be based on binding peptides isolated from a series of large phage display libraries or based on small molecules identified by high throughput screening. Following screening of the phage libraries the most promising peptides will be evaluated on the basis of binding affinity and neutralising action in vitro. The peptides and small molecules will be formulated in chitosan for nasal delivery. Peptides and small molecules will be tested in animal models of pneumonia, bacteraemia and meningitis, with and without antibiotics. We present our preliminary data showing that a peptide can be used to treat pneumococcal disease. These data underline the capacity of the sortium to achieve the project objectives.
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 clinical medicine pneumology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antibiotics
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance multidrug resistance
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance antibiotic resistance
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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.
FP6-2003-LIFESCIHEALTH-I
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
LEICESTER
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.