Descrizione del progetto
Proiettili magici contro il cancro
La stimolazione del sistema immunitario per estirpare il cancro è una strategia interessante che ha avuto un successo clinico limitato a causa di problemi di resistenza ai farmaci. Ciò indica la necessità di nuovi approcci per riattivare la sorveglianza immunitaria antitumorale, dato che la maggior parte dei tumori è scarsamente immunogenica. Per affrontare questo problema, gli scienziati del progetto Magicbullet Reloaded, finanziato dall’UE, stanno esaminando nuovi antigeni tumorali come bersagli farmacologici. L’idea è di sviluppare piccole molecole che non solo inducano risposte immunitarie antitumorali specifiche, ma che possano anche integrare le strategie immunoterapiche esistenti. Indubbiamente, i farmaci che uccidono selettivamente le cellule tumorali rappresentano la strada da seguire nella terapia del cancro.
Obiettivo
"Despite the continuing development of new and more efficient treatments, cancer remains the second cause of premature death worldwide. Multi-faceted interdisciplinary research efforts in industry and academia on different aspects of cancer have provided a knowledge basis for the development of novel therapeutic approaches. Paul Ehrlich, Nobel laureate in Physiology of 1908, had the early vision that a compound could be made to selectively target a disease-causing organism or tumor. A toxin for the particular tissue could be delivered by an agent of selectivity. Such an ideal therapeutic agent would be a ""magic bullet"" that only kills the target cells. This ETN initiative with the title Magicbullet::reloaded refers to Ehrlich’s bold idea and builds on the previous experience of the highly successful ETN MAGICBULLET (2015-2018, grant agreement No. 642004). As a consequence of the outstanding results, the ETN Magicbullet::reloaded will expand the field of investigation from peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs) to small molecule-drug conjugates (SMDCs) with a special focus on drugs capable to stimulate tumor immune responses and overcome resistance to immuno-therapy. The consortium has been substantially expanded to perfectly address the needs of the new research direction. The planned ETN will design and synthesize an array of SMDCs (including PDCs), also targeting less investigated tumor antigens, investigate their pharmacokinetic behaviour, their implication on the immune system, as well as their tumor selectivity and antitumor activity. The consortium brings together interdisciplinary expert knowledge in Organic Chemistry, Peptide Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Discovery, Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Cell Biology. This high complementarity is required for the different scientific tasks in the development pipeline. Vice versa, the recruited ESRs will be exposed to a challenging research environment leading to a broad range of scientific competences to be acquired."
Campo scientifico
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug discovery
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinemedicinal chemistry
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineimmunologyimmunotherapy
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-ITN - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN)Coordinatore
33615 Bielefeld
Germania