Project description
Engineering skin bacteria to treat eczema
Atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema, affects over 125 million people worldwide, causing chronic skin inflammation, intense itching and significant reduction in quality of life. Current treatments provide only partial relief and carry side effects with long-term use. The skin microbiome offers a promising alternative therapeutic avenue. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CUTISKIN project proposes to engineer Cutibacterium acnes, the most abundant skin commensal bacterium, to produce therapeutic small molecules directly within the skin. Researchers will employ metabolic modelling, genome engineering and advanced 3D skin models of eczema to optimise therapeutic molecule production and validate efficacy. The versatile CUTISKIN microbial platform will advance treatment of eczema and other skin disorders.
Objective
Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as eczema, affects more than 125 million people worldwide. This disease severely impacts patient quality of life and generates annual healthcare costs exceeding 30€ billion in Europe. The skin microbiome represents a promising dynamic delivery system for the treatment of AD. Notably, Cutibacterium acnes, the most abundant skin commensal, has preferential colonization of the hair follicles and high engraftment when applied topically in the skin. However, current engineering of this bacterium is limited to proteins, which diffuse poorly across the skin. CUTISKIN aims to pioneer the metabolic engineering of C. acnes for the dynamic production of therapeutic small molecules against AD. It will (i) develop a multiplex genome engineering method for C. acnes to enable high-throughput pathway integration; (ii) build a genome-scale metabolic model (GEM) constrained to skin physiology to optimize metabolite production; and (iii) establish a methodology to evaluate therapeutic effect in advanced 3D skin models of AD. This interdisciplinary project combines synthetic biology, metabolic modelling, and dermatology, representing the first attempt to metabolically reprogram a skin commensal for therapeutic metabolite delivery. Furthermore, it will establish a metabolic platform adaptable to other skin disorders and develop methods expandable to other non-model organisms, advancing microbiome therapeutics in Europe.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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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
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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SW7 2AZ London
United Kingdom
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