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| Acronym | PELICO |
| Funding scheme | MSCA-RISE – Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff exchange |
| Grant agreement No | 690973 |
| Implementation period | 01.01.2016. – 31.12.2019. |
| Project coordinator | Enamine Limited Liability Company, Ukraine |
| Project partners | Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany |
| Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Latvia | |
| The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, UK | |
| Project web page | http://pelico.org/ |
| Leader of Latvian team | Prof. Aigars Jirgensons |
| Total Costs | 688 500 EUR |
| EU contribution | 688 500 EUR |
| Costs for Latvian partner | 103 500 EUR |
Summary
The expertise, resources and specific knowledge of all participating parties will be combined to achieve a breakthrough in design, synthesis and application of peptide analogues (peptidomimetics) possessing photo-controlled biological activities, with special emphasis on anti-microbial and anti-cancer activities.
The main idea behind the Project consists in chemical incorporation of artificial photo-controllable building blocks into known biologically active peptides by replacing their natural building blocks – the amino acid residues. Such a modification would provide photocontrolled peptidomimetics which can reversibly change their structure between two different photo-forms upon irradiation with light of different wavelength. The participating parties possess general know-how for design of the peptidomimetics which can exist in two photo-forms, biologically active and inactive ones, reversibly interconvertible by light of different wavelength. This opens a possibility to convert inactive peptidomimetics to active compounds by irradiation with physiologically benign light directly in tissues with very high spatiotemporal precision and can be a fundamental basis of new therapeutic strategies.
The research staff exchange and other activities planned under the Project will be dedicated to accomplish four complementary work packages:
- carrying out pharmacokinetic and toxicity studies of the photocontrolled peptidomimetics synthesized by the parties previously
- evaluation of novel photocontrolled building block chemotypes for their compatibility with peptides
- creation of new photocontrolled peptidomimetics, especially based on the novel building blocks and the know-how developed by the parties (e.g. using “stapled peptides” technology)
- multidisciplinary training of the researchers whose future work will be aimed at further development of the most advanced photocontrolled peptidomimetics as drugs suitable for photodynamic therapy.