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Tuberculosis
COORDINATOR: DR . VICENÇ AUSINA
In the context of study of immunity in tuberculosis (TB) and the development of new antiTB vaccina- tions, we have joined two Consortiums financed by the EU (H2020) in cooperation with forty uni- versities and research centres. This activity means the consolidation of a translational line of research enabling demonstrating in humans the findings
An analysis has been made of the strains of MTB with greatest prevalence and/or active transmis- sion in Aragon, characterising the appearance of genomic changes due to evolutionary processes. New strategies for surveillance of the transmission of MTB risk strains, based on allele-specific PCRs directed at specific strain SNPs have been devel-
Scientific Programmes
obtained in basic science and which has a great internationalisation component (participation in the Africa-Europe Host-Directed Therapies Interna- tional Consortium) and innovation (Contract with Manremyc SL; Archivel Technologies SL.; Fundació IrsiCaixa; Fundació Idibell-Bellvitge).
The results of safety and immunogenicity obtained in the first clinical test in healthy adults in Laus- anne (Switzerland) have been published. The reli- ability of this data supports progress in the clinical development of the MTBVAC application in tuber- culosis-endemic countries with a high incidence of disease. In this respect Phase 1b of the MTBVAC safety and immunogenicity assay on new-born ba- bies in South Africa has been approved.
Progress has been made in the characterisation of the impact of eflux pumps in the intrinsic resistance to new candidates for antiTB drugs in development identified by our European contributors after phe- notypic screenings. The study of the metabolism of nucleic acids and control of oxidative stress has been started as new targets for anti-tuberculosis agents. Some combinations of drugs maintaining their activity against M. tuberculosis (MTB) when encapsulated in nanoparticles of different kinds have been identified.
oped. Approximations of complete genome se- quencing have been applied to analyse the clonal complexity which MTB infection can acquire both between patients and throughout transmission chains.
We have started the development of new methods based on nanoparticles for detecting MTB in clin- ical samples. A metabolomic pattern in urine has been identified which differentiates patients with tuberculosis from healthy individuals or ones with other breathing infections. The characteristics of tuberculosis in paediatric age caused both by MTB and by other non-tuberculosis mycobacteria have been studied, identifying glycopeptidolipids which enable differentiating between both. We have final- ly identified new MTB latency antigens which ena- ble characterising the specific immune response of infected individuals and the sick.
New molecular platforms for detecting resistances to anti-tuberculosis drugs have been developed, op- timised and assessed. The detection of resistanc- es and identification of lineages with phylogenetic ends have been got under way by means of mas- sive sequencing technologies.
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