Project description
Rational design of lipid cargo-carrier systems to enhance drug delivery
At all levels, biological systems enhance the efficiency of their many jobs through compartmentalisation accomplished largely with semi-permeable membranes. From the cell itself to numerous intracellular and extracellular vesicles and organelles used for trafficking 'materials' to the exact spot in which they are needed, separation of function is largely accomplished with the physical separation of the necessary 'ingredients'. The EU-funded QARGO project aims to harness the mechanisms of this amazing cellular encapsulation and trafficking machinery to develop lipid-based drug delivery systems. Although such systems have shown great potential, they cannot be fully exploited without rational design based on a deep understanding of the creation of functional lipid carriers in biological systems. QARGO is moving beyond trial and error to in silico solutions, enabling the rational design of cargo-carrier systems for therapeutics.
Objective
Lipid-based drug delivery systems have shown great therapeutic potential, in particular for tumor targeting treatment. However, the production at relevant scales of such therapeutic agents remains a challenge due to the empirical nature of their development, and limited quantitative understanding of their biophysical properties. Remarkably, cells heavily utilize lipid carrier trafficking to encapsulate and transport with great efficiency various biological components to targeted sites in the intra- and extracellular environment. Inspired by the robustness of cellular trafficking processes, this proposal aims to elucidate the biophysical principles underlying the biogenesis of functional lipid carriers, and thereby direct the design and production of biomimetic transport carriers for drug delivery.
Bringing together a complementary team of cell biologists, biophysicists, and mechanical engineers, we will develop a unifying modeling framework of vesicle biogenesis, in constant dialogue with experimental investigations of the mechanisms at play. The objectives of our integrated approach are two-fold: (i) elucidate the quantitative biophysical mechanisms of transport-carrier biogenesis mediated by coat proteins; and (ii) provide a toolbox for model-based design of liposome technologies for therapeutic drug delivery.
All together, this project has potential impact in fundamental biology - by providing a systematic framework to formulate experimentally testable predictions and develop new ideas to control cellular functions in health and disease – as well as in biomedical engineering – by offering in silico solutions to design and test biomimetic cargo-carrier production processes for therapeutic applications.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
08034 BARCELONA
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.