Descripción del proyecto
La secuenciación de anticuerpos ofrece nuevas posibilidades en la investigación médica
El repertorio de anticuerpos del sistema inmunitario adaptativo de los seres humanos evolucionó para hacer frente al gran número de agentes patógenos (bacterias, virus) y amenazas exógenas (toxinas). Comprender qué anticuerpos se producen en respuesta a un agente patógeno concreto puede posibilitar tratamientos más eficaces y personalizados. Para abordar esta cuestión, en el proyecto TopSpec, financiado con fondos europeos, se ha desarrollado una plataforma mejorada basada en la espectrometría de masas para la secuenciación de anticuerpos. Junto con un sistema de adquisición de datos de alto rendimiento y un «software» de procesamiento y análisis de datos, TopSpec aumentará de forma significativa las oportunidades en la investigación médica y el desarrollo de fármacos, además de ampliar nuestros conocimientos sobre el sistema inmunitario.
Objetivo
One of the major challenges of modern medicine is to understand how the human organism defends itself against invasions and diseases. The biggest mystery is the human immune system, and understanding this ultimately requires knowledge of the sequence repertoire of human antibodies and their respective antigens. The purpose of the TopSpec project is to be the first in the world to solve this challenge, opening up opportunities in medical research and drug development that are today only dreamt about. We will create a breakthrough technology that will revolutionize academic, clinical and industrial proteomics and dramatically advance the development of new generation antibody- and protein-based therapeutics. Antibodies represent the most sophisticated line of natural defense against disease. Knowing exactly which antibodies are produced in response to a particular disease enables us not only to better understand the cause of the disease but also to provide new-generation cures in the form of personalized therapeutic antibodies. The limiting factor for this to truly be achieved is to find a way to analyze and sequence large molecules in the gas phase, and this represents a formidable challenge. The TopSpec project will develop ground-breaking TOP-down tandem mass SPECtrometry (MS/MS) approaches based on novel radical gas-phase ion-electron and ion-atom reactions, and implement them on a unique, hyphenated, ultrahigh-resolution MS platform. Another “killer innovation” is the ability to greatly simplify MS/MS spectra of large molecules by adding another dimension of separation – collisional cross-sections of fragment ions using two parallel approaches. TopSpec will be the first project to implement de-convolution of massively overlapping isotopic clusters, solving one of the greatest challenges in top-down MS of large molecules.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesnuclear physicsnuclear fission
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsproteomics
- natural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistrymass spectrometry
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencedata processing
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01
Régimen de financiación
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinador
17177 Stockholm
Suecia