Descripción del proyecto DEENESFRITPL «BBB-on-a-chip» para acelerar el descubrimiento de fármacos La industria farmacéutica y los pacientes desesperados por disponer de nuevos medicamentos para tratar sus enfermedades, pueden beneficiarse considerablemente de mejoras en el proceso de desarrollo de fármacos. Existe una creciente necesidad de contar con modelos más seguros y biológicamente pertinentes para el cribado de fármacos. La incapacidad de probar adecuadamente los fármacos y tratamientos para enfermedades como la enfermedad de Alzheimer es un problema importante. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos NOVACHIP trabaja en una solución mediante el desarrollo de un modelo «in vitro» de barrera hematoencefálica tridimensional escalable (BBB-on-a-chip, por sus siglas en inglés) para proporcionar una mayor pertinencia biológica que la que ofrecen los modelos «in vitro» actuales. Este tipo de sistema representaría un gran avance para la industria farmacéutica que genera tratamientos para distintos trastornos neurológicos. Mostrar el objetivo del proyecto Ocultar el objetivo del proyecto Objetivo There is great need to develop safer and more biologically relevant models for drug screening. Recent reports indicate that up to 20% of acute kidney complications can be linked to drug-induced nephrotoxicity and more than 40 molecules found to reduce Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)-related plaques in animal models were shown to be ineffective in AD patients. It is increasingly evident that both in vitro and in vivo models being used to develop drugs have a limited capacity to predict the pathophysiology of human disease, personalized response, and off-target drug toxicity. The inability to properly test drugs and treatments to diseases such as AD constitutes a risk for pharmaceutical companies and a major obstacle to overcome. This ERC PoC proposal aims to establish a practical microfluidic fabrication process capable of recreating structural and biomechanical features of native blood vessels. Specifically, we aim to develop a scalable 3D Blood-Brain-Barrier in vitro model (BBB-on-a-chip) able to provide a higher level of biological relevance than current in vitro models. The development of such a system would represent a major break-through for the pharmaceutical industry generating therapies for a variety of neurological disorders. Thanks to the ERC Starting Grant STROFUNSCAFF, we have developed a simple fabrication process that combines bioprinting and self-assembly to grow functional fluidic devices with endothelialized vessel-like capillaries (patent application in preparation). NOVACHIP proposes to a) build scalable microfluidic devices made from capillaries that incorporate relevant cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) components, exhibit tissue-like stiffness, and can be designed with specific sizes and geometries to better resemble the native BBB and b) compare it to a commercially available in vitro model as well as c) an established rat model by quantifying permeability of specific imaging biomarkers for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique. Ámbito científico natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsmicrofluidicsmedical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurologydementiaalzheimermedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsmedical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiologypathophysiologyengineering and technologymedical engineeringdiagnostic imagingmagnetic resonance imaging Palabras clave Self-assembly organs-on-a-chip biofabrication in vitro models blood-brain barrier Programa(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Tema(s) ERC-2018-PoC - ERC Proof of Concept Grant Convocatoria de propuestas ERC-2018-PoC Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoria Régimen de financiación ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant Institución de acogida THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM Aportación neta de la UEn € 149 951,00 Dirección University Park NG7 2RD Nottingham Reino Unido Ver en el mapa Región East Midlands (England) Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Nottingham Tipo de actividad Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Participación en los programas de I+D de la UE Opens in new window Red de colaboración de HORIZON Opens in new window Coste total € 149 951,25 Beneficiarios (1) Ordenar alfabéticamente Ordenar por aportación neta de la UE Ampliar todo Contraer todo THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM Reino Unido Aportación neta de la UEn € 149 951,00 Dirección University Park NG7 2RD Nottingham Ver en el mapa Región East Midlands (England) Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Nottingham Tipo de actividad Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Participación en los programas de I+D de la UE Opens in new window Red de colaboración de HORIZON Opens in new window Coste total € 149 951,25
