Projet LifeLUNG (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Doctoral Networks
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Patient survival after lung transplantation (LTx) for end-stage pulmonary disease is poor (5-year survival rate of 59%) due to ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) and graft rejection. No therapies are available to prevent IRI, and current immunosuppression causes toxicity and morbidity. Novel strategies are required that can mask the graft from the recipient’s immune system  The LifeLUNG initiative unites the critical building blocks available in Europe to advance towards a novel paradigm for LTx. Ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) is a clinically used platform to maintain active lung physiology outside the body, making pre-LTx organ engineering a reality. The project aims to advancing EVLP technology to enhance our understanding of transplant rejection through accessible models. By utilizing biobanks of lung biopsies from both clinical LTx cases and established animal models of IRI and rejection, LifeLUNG will apply advanced machine learning and AI-driven deep sequencing to identify key immune factors and gene targets. The latter will be targeted in LifeLUNG with gene therapeutic agents (GTAs) that can be delivered during EVLP to selectively modulate immune responses. Several delivery tools including adeno-associated viral vectors, virus-like particles and lipid nanoparticles, will be tailored to ensure precise and graft-specific gene modulation, enhancing the therapeutic potential for reducing IRI and preventing rejection. Also the efficient production strategies of these GTAs will be an integral part of LifeLUNG. In parallel, LifeLUNG will explore the economic and ethical paradigms of genetic modification of lung transplantation and reflect its implementation into the broader research and clinical framework. The interdisciplinary nature of LifeLUNG will support the training of 15 doctoral candidates across clinical, academic, and industrial sectors, fostering collaboration and the development of transferable skills to advance the research objectives.

Mots clés : lung transplantation, ex vivo lung perfusion, organ rejection, immunology, gene therapy, gene editing, drug delivery systems, experimental models, ethics, implementation science, health economics

Participants :
- Qbd group austria gmbh (Autriche) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université d'Aarhus (Danemark) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 335890.08 €
- KU Leuven (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 1057980.0 €
- Xvivo perfusion aktiebolag (Suède) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Fundacion hitt (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 282188.16 €
- Université de Bâle (Suisse) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Omniscope espana sl (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 282188.16 €
- Hôpital Foch (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 314669.16 €
- Miltenyi Biotec (Germany) (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 290272.32 €
- University Medical Center Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 305285.76 €
- Eurotransplant (Pays-Bas) — Partner, associated partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de médecine de Vienne (Autriche) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 302542.92 €
- Antleron (Belgique) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 96180.0 €
- Université internationale de Catalogne (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University College de Londres (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 348738.12 €
- AstraZeneca (Sweden) (Suède) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Barcelone (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Paris-Saclay (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Mary ann liebert, inc. (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Halo, patiëntenvereniging longtransplantatie uz leuven (Belgique) — Partner, associated partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Lund (Suède) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 324630.0 €
- Université Eberhard Karl de Tübingen (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 290272.32 €