FASCIOLA HEPATICA: ONLY A COORDINATED ONLINE ATTACK CAN DEFEAT THE MASTER OF EVASION (ATTILA)
Referencia: PID2019-108782RB-C22
Funding Entity: Ministry of Science and Innovation, State Research Agency (AEI) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). State Programme for R&D&I Oriented to the Challenges of Society 2019
Principal Investigator: Mar Siles Lucas
IRNASA Participants: Javier González Miguel and David Becerro Recio
Duration: 2020 – 2024
Summary
The overall objective of the ATTILA project is to contribute to the development of effective vaccines against fasciolosis in ruminants by establishing the molecular and cellular basis of the parasite/host relationship in the early stages of infection. ATTILA will complete the results obtained in the national INTERFAS project (AGL2015-67023-C2-R) in which in vitro and ex vivo models of interaction between the juvenile stages of the Fasciola hepatica parasite and host cells/tissues were developed, allowing the identification of important molecules for the invasive capacity of the parasitic agent. The present project will continue, therefore, to elucidate the main mechanisms and molecules with which the parasite invades the host, controls and rapidly regulates its immune response, and conditions the pathogenesis and development of chronic disease. In addition, new technological approaches in the area of -omics, gene editing and immunology will be used. Based on the results obtained, a multivalent vaccine candidate defined to give rise to a protective response in ruminants in the early stages of infection will be designed and tested.
