Descrizione del progetto
Come decifrare il codice della nanotossicità
Una sfida si profila nel regno dei nanomateriali, dove il compito di svelarne i potenziali pericoli rappresenta un ostacolo formidabile. Attualmente, determinare i potenziali rischi associati all’esposizione umana o animale ai nanomateriali richiede procedure meticolose e ad alta intensità di risorse. In questo contesto, il progetto SmartNanoTox, finanziato dall’UE, integrerà biologia dei sistemi all’avanguardia, analisi statistica e metodi computazionali per affrontare l’intricato puzzle della nanotossicità. Mediante una ricerca esaustiva che comprende studi in vivo, in vitro e in silico, verranno individuate le vie di tossicità respiratoria di alcuni nanomateriali rappresentativi. Concentrandosi sugli eventi chiave e sulle interazioni tra biologia e nanomateriali, il progetto svelerà un’inedita serie di punti finali consapevoli del meccanismo. Questo approccio innovativo offrirà test economici e semplici, riducendo la necessità di effettuare esperimenti di tossicità approfonditi.
Obiettivo
A definitive conclusion about the dangers associated with human or animal exposure to a particular nanomaterial can currently be made upon complex and costly procedures including complete NM characterisation with consequent careful and well-controlled in vivo experiments. A significant progress in the ability of the robust nanotoxicity prediction can be achieved using modern approaches based on one hand on systems biology, on another hand on statistical and other
computational methods of analysis. In this project, using a comprehensive self-consistent study, which includes in-vivo, in-vitro and in-silico research, we address main respiratory toxicity pathways for representative set of nanomaterials, identify the mechanistic key events of the pathways, and relate them to interactions at bionano interface via careful post-uptake nanoparticle characterisation and molecular modelling. This approach will allow us to formulate novel set of toxicological mechanism-aware end-points that can be assessed in by means of economic and straightforward tests. Using the exhaustive list of end-points and pathways for the selected nanomaterials and exposure routs, we will enable clear discrimination between different pathways and relate the toxicity pathway to the properties of the material via intelligent QSARs. If successful, this approach will allow grouping of materials based on their ability to produce the pathway-relevant key events, identification of properties of concern for new materials, and will help to reduce the need for blanket toxicity testing and animal testing in the future.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsproteomics
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabases
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesatomic physics
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencescomputational science
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
Programma(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-NMP-2015-two-stage
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
4 Dublin
Irlanda