000467858 001__ 467858
000467858 005__ 20230212181221.0
000467858 0247_ $$2CORDIS$$aG:(EU-Grant)899619$$d899619
000467858 0247_ $$2CORDIS$$aG:(EU-Call)H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01$$dH2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01
000467858 0247_ $$2originalID$$acorda__h2020::899619
000467858 035__ $$aG:(EU-Grant)899619
000467858 150__ $$aGeneral-purpose virus-neutralizing engulfing shells with modular target-specificity$$y2020-06-01 - 2024-05-31
000467858 372__ $$aH2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01$$s2020-06-01$$t2024-05-31
000467858 450__ $$aVIROFIGHT$$wd$$y2020-06-01 - 2024-05-31
000467858 5101_ $$0I:(DE-588b)5098525-5$$2CORDIS$$aEuropean Union
000467858 680__ $$aViral infections affect millions of people every year and cause tremendous human suffering and costs to society. For approximately 70% of all WHO listed viruses, no treatment is available and the antiviral drugs that do exist typically must be applied very early after infection to be effective. The VIROFIGHT consortium proposes a radically new approach to fight viral infections, to help reduce the scale and sheer impact of viral infections, to address the problem of a lack of broadly applicable antiviral treatments, and to create means for combating emerging pathogens. Instead of targeting virus-specific proteins or enzymes by small molecules as current antivirals do, we will construct synthetic nano-shells that can specifically recognize and engulf entire viruses to efficiently neutralize the pathogen by occlusion. To achieve this technological target, our interdisciplinary project integrates supramolecular chemistry, molecular nanoengineering, and virology with the mission to develop and test prototypes of engulfing nano-shells that have the principal capacity to neutralize any given virus. We will fabricate biocompatible nano-shells through DNA origami and protein design and attach modularly virus-specific molecules to them in a multivalent fashion, to exploit avidity effects for strong virus binding. The virus binders will be identified through rapid in vitro selection processes designed to be applicable to any target virus. Neutralization assays will be used to test our concept on a variety of viruses. VIROFIGHT has the potential to attain revolutionary properties: shell prototypes can be developed and produced in the course of weeks after discovery of a viral pathogen, and the drug concept can be used and adapted for a wide variety of viral pathogens, without having detailed knowledge about the virus. The VIROFIGHT concept aimed at eradicating multiple viruses thus has great potential for decreasing the burden for patients and saving costs to society.
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000467858 909CO $$ooai:juser.fz-juelich.de:899547
000467858 980__ $$aG
000467858 980__ $$aCORDIS
000467858 980__ $$aAUTHORITY