Descripción del proyecto
Unas pinzas ópticas ayudan a los científicos a seleccionar células T
Las inmunoterapias del cáncer funcionan estimulando la repuesta inmunitaria natural del cuerpo. Uno de los pasos fundamentales es la unión de las células T con los antígenos en las células cancerosas. Las nuevas terapias personalizadas procuran identificar y reclutar a las células T más eficaces. Sin embargo, hasta ahora, no existía ninguna forma de evaluar directamente la unión. IMMUNOTRAP está a punto de cambiar este hecho. Su tecnología explota las pinzas ópticas ganadoras del premio Nobel empleando la luz láser enfocada para manipular objetos tan pequeños como un átomo. Los objetos experimentan una fuerza debida a la transferencia del impulso de la dispersión de los protones. IMMUNOTRAP aprovecha la fuerza de las pinzas ópticas para evaluar la unión de las células T con sus antígenos, lo que les permite seleccionar a los mejores candidatos para el trabajo.
Objetivo
Cancers exhibit a large heterogeneity in terms of genetic mutations, so they respond differently to the same drugs. This is why oncology is rapidly drifting towards treatments with new disrupting personalised inmuno-oncology therapies based on adoptive T-cell transfer (ACT). These therapies aim at selecting the most efficient T cells against tumors and transferring them back to the patient. This kind of Immunoassays are generally carried out with endpoint measurements like Surface Plasmon Resonance or Flow Cytometry. However, these techniques do not allow assessing the binding process between the immune and the target cell, which represents a fundamental step of the recognition phase where large efforts against cancer focus.
IMPETUX has developed a solution to address this unmet need. The characterization of this affinity will be achieved through the measurement of the interaction force between them with IMMUNOTRAP: a platform for cell screening based on IMPETUX‘s optical tweezers. This technology uses a highly-focused laser light to mechanically interact with the sample without physical contact. The recent 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to the intellectual father of this technique for his ground-breaking invention in the 1980s. However, it was not until few years ago that forces could start being measured on non-homogeneous samples, such as cells, thanks to the technology developed by IMPETUX.
The IMMUNOTRAP has the potential to become the workhorse in the screening of the best performance receptors for their use in immunotherapies and offers IMPETUX the opportunity to address a high-growth potential market: the pharmaceutical industry and clinical diagnosis. It represents, therefore, a key opportunity to boost the company’s growth. Thus, the objectives of the present innovation project is precisely to confirm the potential of the proposal to create value and to identify the most suitable marketing and commercial routes for a successful market entry.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Régimen de financiación
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinador
08029 BARCELONA
España
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.