Chronic lung diseases are among the leading causes of illness and death worldwide. While gene therapies hold great promise for treating these conditions, one of the key challenges is delivering therapeutic genetic material specifically to diseased lung tissue without affecting other organs.
For her work in this field, DZL scientist Prof. Dr. Soni Savai Pullamsetti has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept Grant. Prof. Pullamsetti, Scientific Coordinator of the DZL Disease Area Pulmonary Hypertension and Professor of Epigenetics of the Pulmonary Vasculature at Justus Liebig University Giessen, will use the grant to further develop her TBX4-PRECIS platform technology, which aims to enable targeted gene therapies for lung diseases.
TBX4-PRECIS was originally developed as part of Prof. Pullamsetti's ERC Consolidator Grant. The platform acts like a biological "address label," ensuring that therapeutic genes are activated specifically in lung tissue while minimizing activity in other organs. Initial ex vivo and in vivo studies have already demonstrated the technology's high precision.
The ERC Proof of Concept Grant will support the next stage of development towards clinical application. Planned activities include comprehensive preclinical validation to demonstrate the platform's efficacy, safety, and transferability, paving the way for future clinical translation.
"With the ERC Proof of Concept, we can further develop the results of our ERC-funded basic research towards clinical application and commercial exploitation," says Prof. Pullamsetti. "Our goal is to establish a platform technology that paves the way for a new generation of targeted gene therapies for chronic lung diseases."
The ERC Proof of Concept scheme is available exclusively to researchers who already hold an ERC grant. It supports the translation of promising research findings into practical applications with societal or commercial impact. Prof. Pullamsetti previously received an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2019 to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying pulmonary hypertension.
Source: Gezielte Gentherapie für Lungenerkrankungen — JLU Gießen
