Team:SupBiotech-Paris

Gene therapy issue is the non-specificity of cells population markers in organism. In contrast, it is highly specific in a tissue. Our project is a vectorization system using both bacteria and virus-like, to improve the targeting. We chose mycobacterium, a microorganism with high tropism for specific tissues, and a synthetic Lambda phage able to infect eukaryotic cells. First, to target tissue, we use mycobacterium, and then to target the cell population, we use the synthetic lambda phage. But, phage production should be controlled to avoid the bacteria lysis and so the destruction of the first vector when it is outside of its targeted tissue. So, we designed an inductive system by tissue specific recognition. In the bacteria targeted tissue, the inductive system induces the phage production and bacteria lysis. Released phages can infect the target cells. The use of the double targeting vector will amplify the specificity of the gene therapy and allow the targeting of a precise cell population.

See you guys!