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• identify high effi ciency combinations of the novel lead<br />
molecules with chemotherapy and/or radiation and conduct<br />
pre-clinical studies;<br />
• develop a prediction model and high-throughput primary<br />
tumour characterisation to identify patient-specifi c (tailormade)<br />
targeted treatments;<br />
• devise new tumour targeting techniques by exploiting<br />
gene and cell therapy-based approaches;<br />
• development of new computational and experimental<br />
methods in order to advance potential protein therapeutics<br />
faster from pre-clinical to clinical stage;<br />
• development of an exploitation strategy involving a startup<br />
SME.<br />
Expected results<br />
The anticipated deliverables include the development of<br />
novel diagnosis technologies and novel therapeutics for<br />
intervention in cancer progression through activation of<br />
apoptosis as well as technologies to advance a more<br />
rational approach to the design of ‘tailor-made’ therapeutic<br />
drugs. This proposal takes a multi-disciplinary approach<br />
to develop new methodologies and will specifi cally generate<br />
unique scientifi c knowledge and industrial technologies<br />
that could not be created on a national level by individual<br />
partners. The participants involved are from both industrial<br />
and academic backgrounds and are experienced with<br />
working in research networks at a European level. Our<br />
application of state-of-the-art technologies will facilitate<br />
and accelerate the development of new tools and processes<br />
in general, for development and production of novel<br />
protein/peptide therapeutics.<br />
TRIDENT will assist in the advancement of genetic and protein<br />
engineering, in silico protein design, molecular evolution,<br />
protein microarray technology and lab-on-a-chip formats in<br />
the development and production of lead therapeutic molecules.<br />
A greater understanding of molecular mechanisms<br />
involved in the control of apoptotic signal transduction in<br />
tumour cells will be also gained. The integration of this<br />
derived knowledge will ultimately be useful in the context of<br />
post-genomic research for human health activities. Our<br />
focus will be on the market need for alternative, more eff ective<br />
therapies in the treatment of solid tumours, and more<br />
particularly for therapeutics with minimal toxic-side eff ects.<br />
Potential applications<br />
Treatment of solid tumours and possibly leukemias, identifi -<br />
cation of most effi cient treatments for individual patients,<br />
high effi ciency design of protein mutants and specialisedvariants<br />
(e.g. receptor selective ligands, agonistic, antagonistic<br />
ligands).<br />
226<br />
Coordinator<br />
Afshin Samali<br />
National University of Ireland<br />
Galway, Ireland<br />
afshin.samali@nuigalway.ie<br />
Partners<br />
Ralf Zwacka<br />
National University of Ireland<br />
Galway, Ireland<br />
Luis Serrano<br />
Centre de Regulació Genòmica<br />
Barcelona, Spain<br />
Wim Quax<br />
University of Groningen<br />
Groningen, The Netherlands<br />
Project number<br />
LSHC-CT-2006-037686<br />
EC contribution<br />
€ 2 069 000<br />
Duration<br />
36 months<br />
Starting date<br />
01/10/2006<br />
Instrument<br />
STREP<br />
Project website<br />
www.tridentbiotech.com<br />
Steven de Jong<br />
University Medical Center Groningen<br />
Groningen, The Netherlands<br />
Guillermo Montoya<br />
Fundación Centro Nacional<br />
de Investigaciones<br />
Oncológicas Carlos III<br />
Madrid, Spain<br />
Ian Hayes<br />
Triskel Therapeutics Ltd.<br />
Galway, Ireland<br />
CANCER RESEARCH PROJECTS FUNDED UNDER THE SIXTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME