FFC#18/2017

Exploiting the potential of gallium for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pulmonary infection

AREA 3 Bronchopulmonary infection

FFC#18/2017

Exploiting the potential of gallium for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pulmonary infection
€ 0 still needed
0%
€ 21.000 goal

pRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Paolo Visca (Dipartimento di Scienze, Lab. Microbiologia Clinica e Virologia, Università Roma Tre)

Partner

Francesco Peri (Dip. di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze, Università Milano Bicocca); Raffella Sorrentino (Dip. di Farmacia, Università di Napoli Federico II)

Researchers

13

Category

AREA 3 Bronchopulmonary infection

Duration

1 year

Goal

€ 21.000

Funds raised

€ 21.000

Objectives

Iron uptake is a vital process for all living cells, including CF pathogens, hence it represents a vulnerable target for novel antibacterials. Ga(III) has the ability to inhibit bacterial growth by disrupting iron metabolism, acting as iron mimetic. Two clinical trials are in progress to test the efficacy of Ga(III) in CF patients. Preliminary results of FFC#21/2015 project showed that the antibacterial activity of Ga(III) can be potentiated by suitable ligands having a structure similar to iron carrying molecules (siderophore); moreover, P. aeruginosa CF isolates were shown to be more susceptible to Ga(III), compared with laboratory strains or strains from systemic infections. The main goals of this one-year extension project are i) to comparatively evaluate the antibacterial activity of Ga(III) complexes/formulations against major CF pathogens; ii) to investigate the toxicology and pharmacokinetics of the Ga(III) complexes/formulations; iii) to improve the synthesis of Ga(III) carriers derived from pyochelin (PCH) siderophore structure. The final objective is to identify new Ga(III) formulations endowed with more potent antibacterial properties, high bioavailability, low toxicity and suited for aerosol administration, hopefully, ready for clinical testing.

WHO ADOPTED THE PROJECT

Delegazione FFC di Torino

€ 21.000

Guadagnin srl

€ 8.000

Delegazione FFC di Reggio Calabria

€ 8.000

OTHER PROJECTS

Discover the other projects

GMRF#1/2026

Exploring the role of PKD1 in promoting CFTR stability and function at the cell surface

FFC#1/2026

Mapping proteins regulating CFTR mRNA stability to identify new therapeutic targets for nonsense mutations

FFC#2/2026

Evaluating the potential of phosphodiesterase inhibitors to enhance the efficacy of CFTR modulators and support personalized therapeutic approaches