Project description
Dissecting the invasiveness of meningococcal infections
Recent years have witnessed a re-emergence of the meningococcal serogroup W type-11 strain which demonstrates increased invasiveness. To address this medical challenge, the EU-funded EpIg Men project will investigate the virulence factors responsible for the invasiveness of this strain and whether antibodies can still clear the pathogen. In particular, researchers will study the mechanisms underlying the interaction of meningococcal bacteria with epithelial cells and evaluate the ability of antibodies from different age groups to protect against infection. Results will help formulate novel public protection measures and potentially identify novel targets for therapies as well as vaccine design.
Objective
Highly invasive meningococcal infections with serogroup W of clonal type cc11 are rapidly increasing and have a high (16-25%) mortality rate. The aim of this project is to investigate why recent isolates are invasive and how different antibodies can protect. Special focus will be on protection of epithelial cells of the wall of the respiratory tract as prevention of infection may be key to protect the public against infection with MenW cc11.
Recent clinical isolates of different clinical invasiveness will be subjected to pangenetic analyses to identify virulence factors. The ability of these isolates to infect epithelial cells will be evaluated to compare virulence factors with functional invasiveness. I then will analyse meningococcal-specific antibody levels in serum and saliva in different age groups with increased carriage and/or risk of meningococcal invasive disease. The antibodies will be evaluated for their ability to protect against infection in two different functional assays: prevention of infection of respiratory epithelial cells and the gold standard serum bactericidal assay that predicts the ability to clear invaded meningococci. Finally, epithelial responses to meningococci and modulation of these responses will be investigated. These studies will analyse cytokine and chemokine production, and the production of antibodies by B cells in epithelial-B cell co-cultures.
Together, these data will a) help to identify meningococcal virulence factors and the invasiveness of MenW cc11 relative to other isolates, b) identify levels and functional ability of antibodies to protect against infection in groups at increased risk, c) help in defining a novel correlate of protection and d) reveal meningococcal-epithelial interactions. The results will provide insight for vaccine design, vaccination policy and surveillance strategies.
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.
- social sciences sociology demography mortality
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
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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-EF-RI - RI – Reintegration panel
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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-2018
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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.
3721 MA BILTHOVEN
Netherlands
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.