Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
H2020Doctoral network2021–2025

GLYTUNES · A multidisciplinary training network for the bioinspired development of glycomimetics tuning the Siglec-Sialoglycan axis

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2021-03-01 → 2025-02-28
EU contribution
€3,744,224
Participants
11
Scheme
MSCA-ITN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

A multidisciplinary training network for the bioinspired development of glycomimetics tuning the Siglec-Sialoglycan axis

The GLYTUNES program is tackling the growing need for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies infectious, cancer, and autoimmune diseases within the biotech, healthcare, and pharmaceutical sectors. To achieve this, GLYTUNES has created a collaborative, interdisciplinary training program in Europe, led by experts and working closely with industry partners in the EU. The project recognizes that glycoscience—the study of sugars and their roles—is now vital in modern medicine, especially for developing diagnostic tools and therapies. A key focus is on understanding how glycans (sugar molecules) and glycosylation (a crucial process where sugars are added to other molecules, influencing their function) affect the immune system. This knowledge is crucial for improving our understanding of how immune diseases develop and progress. Specifically, GLYTUNES has investigated Siglecs, a type of receptor on immune cells that interacts with sialylated glycans (sugars containing sialic acid). These interactions play a critical role in regulating the immune system, influencing whether it triggers an immune response or tolerates certain molecules. Research over the past decade has revealed that disruptions in Siglec-sialylated glycan interactions are linked to various diseases, including infections, autoimmune disorders, and cancer. Therefore, the Siglec-sialoglycan axis is a promising target for developing new treatments. The main goal of GLYTUNES has been to generate new knowledge and provide advanced training to: • Understand how Siglecs and their sialylated ligands interact in immune-related diseases at a molecular and dynamic level. • Develop new therapeutic approaches by designing glycomimetics (molecules that mimic glycans) to precisely modulate the Siglec-glycan axis.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

GLYTUNES is a multidisciplinary European Training Network on glyco-immune checkpoints built to address the main priorities of the National and European research council regarding the use of innovative methodological, interdisciplinary approaches for the treatment of human diseases. The GLYTUNES program is based on high-level multidisciplinary and multisectoral training to i) understand at the molecular and dynamic level how (aberrant) interactions between the immunomodulatory receptors Siglecs and their sialylated cognate ligands contribute to the etiology of immune-related diseases (infectious, and cancer diseases), ii) how to tune this axis to provide new therapeutic approaches for the rational design and development of glycomimetics targeting the Siglec glyco-immune checkpoints.To achieve this aim, an interdisciplinary, intersectoral, international European-based training programme within an outstanding collaborative research environment has been established, guided by leaders in their respective fields of research and in close association with industrial partners. GLYTUNES involves 7 academic partners and 4 companies (SMEs) from 7 European countries, combining world-class expertise in carbohydrate chemical and structural biology, drug design and computational chemistry, synthetic and medicinal chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, glycoimmunology and molecular and medical microbiology. GLYTUNES will train 14 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in a highly integrated and collaborative environment, underpinned by extensive interactions between academic and industrial partners and by their experience in higher education, training and mentoring, and endowed with state-of-the art scientific and technical expertise and infrastructures. The ESRs will thus acquire scientific and transferable skills to make them highly competitive and new leaders in top EU academia and research institutions, healthcare and biotech job markets.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II · NapoliCoordinatorItaly
  • ASOCIACION CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION COOPERATIVA EN BIOCIENCIAS · DERIO VIZCAYASpain
  • ATLAS MOLECULAR PHARMA SL · DerioSpain
  • CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · ParisFrance
  • GIOTTO BIOTECH SRL · FIRENZEItaly
  • GLYCOUNIVERSE GMBH & CO. KOMMANDITGESELLSCHAFT AUF AKTIEN · POTSDAMGermany
  • ICENI GLYCOSCIENCE LIMITED · COLCHESTERUnited Kingdom
  • QUADRAM INSTITUTE BIOSCIENCE · NorwichUnited Kingdom
  • STICHTING AMSTERDAM UMC · AmsterdamNetherlands
  • STICHTING RADBOUD UNIVERSITEIT · NijmegenNetherlands
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE · FlorenceItaly

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union