Objective Often reported in the public press as “Stomach Flu” or “Winter Vomiting Disease”, noroviruses are the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the developed world, with frequent outbreaks in closed environments (e.g. hospitals, schools, etc). Outbreaks in hospitals result in substantial economic losses (>100 million € per year in UK), but more importantly put additional pressures on health care services. With the ongoing influenza virus pandemic, it is essential health care services run efficiently, however the winter seasonal peak of norovirus outbreaks will coincide with that of influenza virus and will undoubtedly have a major impact on hospital facilities. Hence new antiviral strategies against noroviruses are essential, yet there are currently no effective treatments to control these pathogens. This proposal aims to explore the use of a new potential antiviral approach based on inhibitory RNA aptamers. Aptamers are single-stranded nucleic acids selected by robotic procedures to have high affinity for a target molecule and its binding often results in specific inhibition. Norovirus replication is catalysed by viral polymerase which may constitute an attractive target for anti-viral therapy. We will identify aptamers against polymerases from 2 different noroviruses: Norwalk virus, the prototypic human virus, and murine norovirus (MNV), that provides us with cell culture and in vivo systems to study norovirus replication. We will investigate if administration of aptamers in mice prevent establishment of MNV infections in vivo. For an efficient delivery of aptamer RNAs to the intestinal tract we will make use of a newly developed technique reliant on invasive non-pathogenic bacteria that enter intestine cells to express therapeutic RNAs. This approach will constitute a proof-of-principle that a probiotic approach may be effective in controlling norovirus infections in vivo and provide a possible avenue for the control of these important pathogens. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesnucleic acidsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyvirologymedical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseasesRNA virusesinfluenzanatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsRNAmedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantivirals Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF - Marie Curie Action: "Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE EU contribution € 231 927,20 Address SOUTH KENSINGTON CAMPUS EXHIBITION ROAD SW7 2AZ LONDON United Kingdom See on map Region London Inner London — West Westminster Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Tatjana Palalic (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
