CHEMBIOFIGHT · Exploring Chemical Biodiversity with Innovative Approaches for Fighting Chagas and Leismaniasis

The ChemBioFight project aims towards the exploration of natural resources to the discovery of bioactive therapeutic molecules against leishmania and Chagas disease. This will be accomplished through the establishment of an extended scientific network between European and South American research entities. Already assembled, highly diverse chemical libraries will be employed for the determination of active natural scaffolds leading to the focused collection of biomaterial (plants, marine organisms, fungi, endophytes) from local diversity hot-spots. Automated, high throughput and advanced techniques will be incorporated for the extraction process as well as the isolation and identification of natural products. Sophisticated approaches as metabolomics and chemical profiling will contribute to the discovery of novel active compounds and will be used to conduct dereplication procedures. Semi-synthetic derivatives of lead compounds will be also produced aiming to the optimization of favorable biological properties via medicinal chemistry aspects. In every step of the proposed work flow, the obtained samples (extracts, isolated compounds, synthetic derivatives) will be evaluated in vitro and/or in vivo for their antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activity. Within the aforementioned context, an extensive net of secondements, both with educational and experimental attributes, will be established. Core scientific knowledge is expected to be produced and exchanged, with the prospect of creating partnerships with future scientific potential. All partners will participate in the dissemination procedure through teaching activities, workshops and international conferences, leading overall to mutual transfer of know-how. Finally, all procedures will be effectively monitored from a management team ensuring effectiveness and prompt objective achievement.