Smart Theranostic Agents for the Tumour Microenvironment

Project Information

FLUORODRUGS

Grant agreement ID: 704912

DOI 10.3030/704912

Project closed

EC signature date 7 April 2016

Start date 1 January 2017

End date 31 December 2018

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost € 195 454,80

EU contribution € 195 454,80

Coordinated by

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
United Kingdom

Objective

FLUORODRUGS is a highly interdisciplinary project encompassing the design, synthesis and biological validation of novel smart chemical agents for highly sensitive diagnosis and specific treatment of cancer. I will prepare novel drug-fluorophores conjugates by combining macrophage-specific fluorophores with cytotoxic drugs using smart cleavable linkers. The activation of these smart agents in the tumour microenvironment will allow to not only to visualise in real-time but also to selectively ablate tumour-associated macrophages, which are essential for cancer progression. Further derivatization of the agents with specific ligands (i.e. chemokine CCL2) will yield probes for specific subpopulations of macrophages (i.e. CCR2+ macrophages) that are critical in tumour metastasis. This strategy will minimise two of the major limitations of conventional cancer therapies: 1) drug resistance from cancer cells, and 2) toxic side effects derived from low cell specificity. Notably, the visualisation of immune cells in the tumour microenvironment will allow to monitor cancer progression in real-time and to run profiling studies to discover new biomarkers for cancer therapy. Initial in vitro studies to confirm the activity and selectivity of FLUORODRUGS will be performed in bone marrow-derived macrophages. Further, relevant mouse cancer models will be used to validate the theranostic agents in vivo. FLUORODRUGS will involve multidisciplinary training in biology, spectroscopy, pharmacology and imaging, and will render a unique generation of smart chemical tools to enhance diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This project will open a whole range of opportunities for my future career development in cancer biology and medicinal chemistry.

Fields of science

• medical and health sciences › basic medicine › medicinal chemistry
• medical and health sciences › basic medicine › pharmacology and pharmacy › drug resistance
• medical and health sciences › clinical medicine › oncology
• medical and health sciences › health sciences › personalized medicine
• medical and health sciences › basic medicine › immunology › immunotherapy

Programme(s)

• H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme
• H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility

Topic(s)

• MSCA-IF-2015-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF)

Call for proposal

H2020-MSCA-IF-2015

Funding Scheme

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

Coordinator

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

• Net EU contribution: € 195 454,80
• Address: OLD COLLEGE, SOUTH BRIDGE ; EH8 9YL Edinburgh ; United Kingdom
• Region: Scotland › Eastern Scotland › Edinburgh
• Activity type: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Total cost: € 195 454,80