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H2020Doctoral network2018–2022

BestTreat · Building a Gut Microbiome Engineering Toolbox for In-Situ Therapeutic Treatments for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2018-09-01 → 2022-08-31
EU contribution
€4,134,156
Participants
14
Scheme
MSCA-ITN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

BestTreat – Building a Gut Microbiome Engineering Toolbox for In-Situ TherapeuticTreatments for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

An imbalance in the gut microbiome impacts the development of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, including its components type-2 diabetes and obesity. Gut microbiome imbalance and intestinal permeability appear to play a role in the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progression, although the exact interaction of gut microbiota and NAFLD is still poorly understood. NAFLD describes a range of conditions caused by the accumulation of excess fat in the liver. Reports indicate an estimated global incidence of 24% of the disease. In its early stage, it usually causes no harm, but can develop into severe liver damage, such as steatohepatitis and liver cirrhosis. Furthermore, scientists believe that NAFLD could be a major cause for liver cancer. The goal of the BestTreat program is to study the role of the gut microbiome in the progression of NAFLD. To do this, we analyze the differences between the microbiome of healthy people and that of people with NAFLD and we investigated how dietary and lifestyle interventions can benefit NAFLD patients by restructuring the composition of gut bacteria. The overall objectives of the program are: i) To combine data- and hypothesis-driven approaches with emerging experimental technologies to identify new therapeutic avenues for NAFLD based on engineered gut microbes, ii) To investigate the complex interactions between the gut microbiome and the host’s phentoype as well as, iii) To understand the role of microbiome imbalance on NAFLD progression and to identify new therapeutic avenues for NAFLD.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

BestTreat fosters education of ESRs in a project to uncover microbiome signatures for risk prediction and monitoring of NAFLD and to contribute to the development of therapeutic treatments based on metabolically beneficial microbial consortia. It trains 15 ESRs at world-leading academic institutions and companies, thus forming strong interdisciplinary links between industry, life and medical sciences, and end-users. BestTreat aims to train a new generation of highly qualified ESRs with entrepreneurial competencies in modern Life Sciences through state-of-the-art research projects. The projects focus on the identification and functional characterization of microbial consortia that contribute to metabolic control, and the application of this knowledge to develop novel leads for drug discovery and therapies for NAFLD. The new field on microbiome based therapeutics requires highly skilled scientists with interdisciplinary knowledge on medicine, systems biology and computer science, as well as hands-on experience with several types of tissue samples and model organisms that can optimally translate their research findings into sustainable improvements in clinical practice. BestTreat overcomes current barriers by establishing a strong, multidisciplinary and inter-sectoral training network, developing technologies tailored to solve key questions in human metabolism, microbiology and bioinformatics. The BestTreat programme will exploit recent developments in high-throughput and genome-wide screening technologies, combine these with modern molecular cell biology and systems biology approaches and ultimately translate the data into new leads for the discovery of live biotherapeutics. This specific cross-disciplinary training program will educate young scientists to the next level needed to advance this research field for the upcoming decennium. The training programme will be complemented with a complete set of transferable skills.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR NATURSTOFF-FORSCHUNG UND INFEKTIONSBIOLOGIE EV HANS-KNOLL-INSTITUT · JENACoordinatorGermany
  • ACADEMISCH MEDISCH CENTRUM BIJ DE UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM · AmsterdamNetherlands
  • AFEKTA TECHNOLOGIES LTD · SiilinjarviFinland
  • BIOFACTION KG · WienAustria
  • BRAVAD PRODUCTION APS · KobenhavnDenmark
  • CHR. HANSEN AS · HORSHOLMDenmark
  • CLINICAL-MICROBIOMICS AS · KobenhavnDenmark
  • DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET · Kongens LyngbyDenmark
  • FRIEDRICH-SCHILLER-UNIVERSITÄT JENA · JENAGermany
  • GUBRA APS · HorsholmDenmark
  • ITA-SUOMEN YLIOPISTO · KUOPIOFinland
  • RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN · GroningenNetherlands
  • SHANGHAI SIXTH PEOPLE'S HOSPITAL · ShanghaiChina
  • UDATHA DASARADHISweden

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union