SciFiMed will help patients suffering from
- impaired defence against infections,
- incurable renal,
- autoimmune or
- eye diseases.
All these diseases share an association with dysregulation of the complement system, which is a major component of the immune system.
Complement factor H (FH) and FH-related (FHR) proteins are components of the complement system that are strongly associated with systemic and organ-specific complement-mediated pathologies. In contrast to FH, the function of the remaining six highly homologous FHR proteins is mostly unknown and, hence, their role in the different disease-specific pathogenic mechanisms remain elusive.
Our EU consortium will unravel the mysteries of the FH-protein family’s contributions to diseases.
Then, via an ambitious and transdisciplinary fundamental science-to-technology transfer, a proof-of-principle for a multiplex detection system will be developed to simultaneously quantify and analyse the functional activity of all seven FH-protein family members in patient samples – on site, putting diagnostic technology directly into physicians’ hands.
In the future, this high-impact project propels immunological research in Europe, enables new product development of bioanalytical companies, modernizes the EU-diagnostic market and provides new perspectives for patient treatment, which in turn will pave the way for novel approaches for drug development.
"Everything is possible,
even the impossible"
Mary Poppins