Descrizione del progetto
Le pinzette ottiche aiutano gli scienziati a selezionare le migliori cellule T
Le immunoterapie antitumorali agiscono stimolando la naturale risposta immunitaria dell’organismo. Uno dei passaggi fondamentali è legare le cellule T agli antigeni nelle cellule tumorali. Le nuove terapie personalizzate puntano a individuare le cellule T più efficaci e a reclutarle. Tuttavia, fino ad oggi, non esisteva un modo per verificare direttamente il legame. IMMUNOTRAP sta per colmare questa lacuna. La loro tecnologia si avvale delle pinzette ottiche, insignite del premio Nobel, utilizzando una luce laser molto focalizzata per manipolare oggetti della dimensione di un singolo atomo. Gli oggetti incontrano una forza dovuta al trasferimento della quantità di moto che deriva dalla dispersione dei fotoni. IMMUNOTRAP sfrutta la potenza delle pinzette ottiche per valutare il legame delle cellule T ai rispettivi antigeni, permettendo loro di selezionare i migliori candidati per il compito.
Obiettivo
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.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Meccanismo di finanziamento
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinatore
08029 BARCELONA
Spagna
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.