E6: Pharmaceutical development, translational medicine and drug repurposing
Dr. Susanne Schiffmann
Fraunhofer Institut für Translationale Medizin und Pharmakologie ITMP
Theodor-Stern-Kai 7
60596 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: +49 (0)69-8700 25060
E-Mail: susanne.schiffmann(at)itmp.fraunhofer(dot)de
Project description:
The SARS-CoV2 pandemic clearly demonstrates that there is an unmet medical need for anti-pathogenic drugs. In order to identify new treatment options, promising substances from other working groups will be characterized preclinical. This includes the generation of a safety profile and/or bioavailability testing of the drug candidates. Since supportive therapy with immune-modulating drugs is a proven therapeutic approach, an interaction of the drug candidates with the immune system will be tested.
Surface marker expression of treated M2 macrophages ©Marina Henke
Cytokine expression of treated M2 macrophages. ©Leonard Blum
Scientific goal:
As part of the project, a safety and/or immunomodulatory profile will be created for small molecules/peptides that have a potential antiviral, antiparasitic or antibacterial property. Furthermore, human proteins (e.g. TMPRSS2) which represent new targets for combating pathogens will be investigated.
DRUID Collaboration partners:
A1 Becker lab, A2 Grünweller lab, A3 Weber lab, B1 Diederich/Kolb lab, B3 Rahlfs/Kolb/van Zandbergen, B5 Schlitzer lab, D1 Friebertshäuser lab
References E6: 1. Blum et al. (2021) J Mol Med 99(2):261-72; 2. Blum et al. (2020) Sci Rep 10(1):7534; 3. Blum et al. (2020) J Cell Mol Med 24(12):6988-99.