Protein engineering for encapsulation and intracellular transport

Objective

The main goal of this project is to develop a system for effective encapsulation and transport of negatively charged guests into living cells using an enginnered protein capsid. The research in prof. Hilvert's group demonstrated that it is possible to engineer the inner surface of a capsid formed by lumazine synthase from Aquifex aeolicus (AaLS) to accept positively charged guests while retaining the icosahedral structure. In my project I will be addressing the following issues: - Engineering the inner surface of the AaLS to express positively charged aminoacid residues maintaining the ability of the mutant to form an icosahedral capsid - Investigating stability and potential selectivity of guest encapsulation by the modified capsid - Attaching a delivery tag to the outer surface of the capsid in order to make it cell-permeable - Enabling efficient release of the cargo after cellular uptake, by attaching a degradation tag. The proposed project will provide us with a complete system for coating, intracellular transport and release of negatively charged biomolecules. It will be used to internalize membrane-impermeable molecules like siRNA, negatively charged GFP, and in perspective other proteins or oligonucleotide-based molecules. Based on our results, novel systems for regulating gene expression and investigating mechanisms of RNA interference may be developed. The use of a protein as the encapsulating agent will help to overcome shortages of existing systems for gene therapy using viral vectors, like mutagenesis or immune response. It raises hope for future medical applications of our results.

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.

• medical and health sciences medical biotechnology genetic engineering gene therapy
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
• medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
• engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
• natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• Molecular biology
• Molecular design
• de novo design
• encapsulation
• enzyme engineering
• siRNA

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• 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)

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.

• FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 - Marie Curie Action: "Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008
See other projects for this call

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.

MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Coordinator