Facts

Contact person:
Sabrina Valetti
Financer:
  • Swedish Research Council
Project members at MaU:
Time frame:
31 December 2020 - 31 December 2024
Faculty/department:
Research environment :
Research subject:

As never before in the current worldwide context, there is an urgent need for novel therapeutic solutions to fight dangerous and contagious lung infections. It is estimated that the lung infection caused by Tuberculosis bacteria kills 5000 people every day and about one-third of the world’s population is infected. One of the therapeutic challenges is to deliver high amounts of drugs at the infection site reducing toxic effects. Inhalation therapies are highly recommended but often the delivered drug amount to the lungs is not sufficient.

The research project has the aim to develop a bioinspired drug delivery platform to administer drugs safely and effectively to the lungs to tackle Tuberculosis infections. A new type of porous particle will be designed with a unique combination of optimized aerodynamic features and bioinspired surface coating that take inspiration from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis evolution. The cellular uptake of particles is explored as a strategy to tackle the intracellular bacteria in infected macrophages (i.e. “Trojan approach”). Different drugs will be encapsulated to address several therapeutic targets and overcome resistant mechanisms. In vitro and ex vivo models of Tuberculous granuloma will be used to understand the biological effect.