Description du projet DEENESFRITPL La BHE sur une puce pour accélérer la découverte de médicaments L’industrie pharmaceutique et les patients recherchent désespérément de nouveaux médicaments pour traiter leurs maladies et peuvent largement profiter des améliorations du processus de développement des médicaments. Il existe un besoin croissant de modèles de criblage des médicaments plus sûrs et plus pertinents sur le plan biologique. L’incapacité de tester correctement les médicaments et les traitements contre des maladies comme la maladie d’Alzheimer est un problème majeur. L’équipe du projet NOVACHIP, financé par l’UE, travaille sur une solution. Elle développe un modèle in vitro de barrière hémato-encéphalique 3D évolutive (BHE sur une puce) pour fournir un niveau de pertinence biologique plus élevé que les modèles in vitro existants. Un tel système représenterait une percée majeure pour l’industrie pharmaceutique, générant des thérapies pour différents troubles neurologiques. Afficher les objectifs du projet Masquer les objectifs du projet Objectif 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. Champ scientifique 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 Mots‑clés Self-assembly organs-on-a-chip biofabrication in vitro models blood-brain barrier Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Thème(s) ERC-2018-PoC - ERC Proof of Concept Grant Appel à propositions ERC-2018-PoC Voir d’autres projets de cet appel Régime de financement ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant Institution d’accueil THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM Contribution nette de l'UE € 149 951,00 Adresse University Park NG7 2RD Nottingham Royaume-Uni Voir sur la carte Région East Midlands (England) Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Nottingham Type d’activité Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Liens Contacter l’organisation Opens in new window Site web Opens in new window Participation aux programmes de R&I de l'UE Opens in new window Réseau de collaboration HORIZON Opens in new window Coût total € 149 951,25 Bénéficiaires (1) Trier par ordre alphabétique Trier par contribution nette de l'UE Tout développer Tout réduire THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM Royaume-Uni Contribution nette de l'UE € 149 951,00 Adresse University Park NG7 2RD Nottingham Voir sur la carte Région East Midlands (England) Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Nottingham Type d’activité Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Liens Contacter l’organisation Opens in new window Site web Opens in new window Participation aux programmes de R&I de l'UE Opens in new window Réseau de collaboration HORIZON Opens in new window Coût total € 149 951,25
