Molecular Modeling :: Projects :: Carbohydrate multivalent systems as tools to study pathogen interactions with DC-SIGN (CARMUSYS)

Carbohydrate multivalent systems as tools to study pathogen interactions with DC-SIGN (CARMUSYS)

Our Collaboration Partners:

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain.
Universita Degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS-IBS), Paris, France.
Max Planck Institut (MPI), Berlin, Germany.
Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica del Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
Vrije Universiteit Medical Center (VUMC), Amsterdam, Netherlands.
DC4U, Bussum, Netherlands.
Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, Grenoble, France.

Abstract:

This multidisciplinary project intends to approach the design and synthesis of carbohydrate multivalent systems to be used as tools to study the interaction between carbohydrates and DC-SIGN (Dendritic Cell-Specific ICAM-3 Grabbing Non-integrin), a C-type lectin implicated in the recognition of pathogens and in some of the earliest stages of the infection process. Targeting pathogens at the earliest stages of infection, before cell penetration, is of crucial importance because it can result in a significant decrease of pathogen titre in the organism and therefore will facilitate the efficiency of current therapies for diseases caused by HIV and HCV.

Grant:

Financed by the European Commission as part of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities under the funding scheme of „Marie Curie Initial Training Networks“.