Potential therapeutic effects of engineered Clostridium STp products on immune activity

肠道中的微生物群包括超过1000种细菌，对健康有着深远的影响。对肠道细菌的异常免疫反应驱动炎症性肠病（IBD），这是一种慢性炎症性疾病，在英国的发病率已增加到约30万。症状包括腹泻、抽筋、疼痛、疲劳、体重减轻和贫血，令人痛苦，目前的治疗经常失败。需要新的疾病修饰治疗。帝国理工学院的APRG实验室发现了一种名为STp的分子并获得了专利，该分子来源于肠道中存在的益生菌，并产生了初步证据表明它可以抑制或预防肠道炎症。CHAIN biotech是一家新公司，它开发了一种新的方法，通过工程安全的益生菌将治疗物质直接输送到肠道。这项技术有可能为一系列肠道疾病提供有效的新疗法。该项目将是APRG和CHAIN之间的合作，将APRG学者的免疫学专业知识与CHAIN生物技术的技术和产品开发专业知识结合在一起。该项目的目的是测试由工程细菌产生的STp对肠道免疫活性的潜在治疗作用。将研究专利试验材料对免疫细胞的影响（第1年）、其对健康与疾病免疫力的影响（第2年）以及其对炎性疾病的治疗作用（第3年）。学生将获得免疫学，分子生物学，生物制品开发和微生物组改善人类健康的潜力的知识。

The microbiota, which includes >1000 bacterial species in the intestine, has a profound effect on health. Abnormal immune responses to gut bacteria drive inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic inflammatory condition which has increased in incidence in the UK to around 300,000. Symptoms, including diarrhoea, cramps, pain, fatigue, weight loss and anaemia, are distressing and current treatments frequently fail. There is a need for novel disease-modifying treatments. The APRG laboratory at Imperial has discovered and patented a molecule called STp, derived from a probiotic bacterium present in the gut, and generated preliminary evidence that it can inhibit or prevent gut inflammation. CHAIN biotech are a new company that has developed a novel way of delivering therapeutic substances directly to the gut by engineering safe probiotic bacteria. This technology has the potential to result in efficient new treatments for a range of gut diseases. This project will be a collaboration between APRG and CHAIN, bringing together the immunological expertise of APRG academics with the technical and product development expertise of CHAIN biotech. The aim of the project is to test the potential therapeutic effects of STp produced by an engineered bacteria on gut immune activity. Proprietary test materials will be studied for their effect on immune cells (Year 1), their imprint on immunity in health vs disease (Year 2) and their therapeutic effects on inflammatory disease (Year 3). The student will gain knowledge of immunology, molecular biology, biotherapeutic product development and the potential of the microbiome to improve human health.