Objectif Immunotherapy recently became an important alternative to conventional treatment regimes, yet cancer remains a universal leading cause of death. Thus, novel cancer theranostic approaches are still much desired. Although altered cell surface glycosylation is one of the hallmarks of cancer, targeting this ‘sweet aim’ for cancer therapy has been elusive, largely due to carbohydrates poor immunogenicity and the low affinity of antibodies against them. A red meat-derived carbohydrate antigen is a novel immunogenic moiety providing a key to unlock the theranostic potential of tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens. This foreign non-human sugar can be acquired only through the diet and subsequently appears on diverse cell surface glycoconjugates as ‘self’, accumulating mostly on carcinomas, and resulting in a polyclonal xeno-autoantibodies response. I have shown that such antibodies have both diagnostic and therapeutic potential, although basic understanding of their specificity and potency is scarce. The primary objective of this proposal is to design a novel personalized cancer therapeutic approach based on xeno-autoantibodies against the dietary sugar antigen. We propose an innovative interdisciplinary approach crossing the boundaries of cancer research, glycosciences, immunology and nanotechnology, with cutting-edge technologies, to design, engineer, screen and fully investigate potent targeting of ‘SweetAim’ moieties. Our discovery line is based on a two-arms platform to generate optimized antibodies for passive/active therapy, together with refined tumor cells through glyco-engineering/reprogramming for unveiling novel theranostics, finally evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. I expect our groundbreaking achievements will lead to promising new clinical tools, particularly for cancer, but also for other chronic inflammation-mediated diseases. Importantly, it will establish fundamental new concepts regarding carbohydrate recognition and response by the immune system. Champ scientifique medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsvaccinesmedical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutritionnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculescarbohydratesmedical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologymedical and health sciencesbasic medicineimmunologyimmunotherapy Mots‑clés Tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen sialic acid Neu5Gc antibody xeno-autoantibodies immunotherapy cancer cancer vaccine Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Thème(s) ERC-2016-STG - ERC Starting Grant Appel à propositions ERC-2016-STG Voir d’autres projets de cet appel Régime de financement ERC-STG - Starting Grant Institution d’accueil TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY Contribution nette de l'UE € 1 479 995,00 Adresse RAMAT AVIV 69978 Tel Aviv Israël Voir sur la carte 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 € 1 479 995,00 Bénéficiaires (1) Trier par ordre alphabétique Trier par contribution nette de l'UE Tout développer Tout réduire TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY Israël Contribution nette de l'UE € 1 479 995,00 Adresse RAMAT AVIV 69978 Tel Aviv Voir sur la carte 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 € 1 479 995,00