Objective
The adjuvant potential of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for vaccines depends on a detailed understanding of its innate immune signalling properties, in order to achieve the right balance between immunogenicity and reactogenicity. By biosynthetic engineering of meningococcal LPS, we have obtained a unique panel of mutants covering a wide range of endotoxic activity, from the maximum wildtype level to almost totally inactive. However, this is based on activation of the TLR4/MD-2 receptor, and recent studies have revealed that LPS endotoxic activity is also mediated by the intracellular receptor caspase 4 (caspase 11 in the mouse). At present, it is not clear how this contributes to the overall biological activity of LPS, and how it can be modified by structural alterations to the lipid A moiety of LPS. A major contribution of the proposed project will be to provide for the first time a detailed structure-function relationship for this LPS-caspase 4/11 interaction. This information will be crucial in the further evaluation of the adjuvant potential of these LPS derivatives, as well as giving more insight in the role of LPS modification in the interaction of pathogenic bacteria with the innate immune system. LPS mutants with differential effects on the TLR4 and caspase pathways will provide a unique opportunity to tease apart the contributions of both pathways to the overall LPS biological activity. In addition, we will explore the role of delivery of LPS by OMVs (outer membrane vesicles) to the intracellular pathway activation. A second and complementary contribution will be the development of novel LPS purification methods, which will also lead to better understanding of LPS structure-function relationships by allowing the separation of complicated LPS mixtures in their individual molecular species. In addition, they will pave the way for purification procedures which can be upscaled for making clinical grade LPS in human vaccine applications.
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 cell biology cell signaling
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
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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.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
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.
MSCA-IF-EF-SE - Society and Enterprise panel
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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.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2017
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2500 EJ Den Haag
Netherlands
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.