GRANT. Professor of Molecular Medicine Fredrik Bäckhed has been awarded funding from SciLifeLab and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation’s joint Proof of Concept grant program. The research team is developing inhibitor drugs targeting an enzyme linked to a molecule that appears to contribute to the stiffening of the heart, liver, and other organs, which can increase the risk of heart failure and liver disease.
Fredrik Bäckhed’s research team is working to understand how the bacteria living in our gut interact with each other and with humans in health and disease. They are primarily focusing on cardiometabolic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as liver disease.
“We have been able to show that elevated levels of a microbially produced molecule called imidazole propionate can be linked to several of these diseases,” explains Professor Bäckhed. “We are therefore developing drugs that can inhibit the enzyme that produces this molecule.”
Long-term work
The concept that the research team will now continue to develop is the result of the team’s long and sustained efforts. By combining knowledge from different projects, they eventually found that imidazole propionate may be a suitable target for drug treatment. At a relatively early stage, the team began working to develop potential drugs that target a bacterial enzyme, with the aim of developing a new type of drug.
A total of ten scientific projects that aim to develop new innovations and products will receive funding via this program. The grants have been awarded to life science research funded by the Foundation, with certain projects also having used SciLifeLab’s technological and data capacity.
A new round of the Proof of Concept grant program will run between February 12 and March 22, 2024.
“Many of the underlying findings have been published, but it is important for us to be involved in developing potential treatment strategies,” he continues. “Improving people’s health is our vision and our goal. By employing talented researchers and establishing strategic partnerships, we have been able to bring the project to a stage where we can now investigate how well the idea works.”
The grant from SciLifeLab and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation represents a boost for the research team. They will now investigate how their concept of reducing the production of potentially harmful microbial metabolites works in a pig model.
“If we succeed, we should be able to offer treatment to patients with elevated levels of imidazole propionate.”
BY: ELIN LINDSTRÖM
