The scope of Priority Thematic Area 1 is: Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health (LifeSciHealth)
The VIZIER project is addressing the research area i) Advanced Genomics and its application for Health - a) Fundamental knowledge and basic tools for functionnal genomics in all organisms and more particularly, the stated objective of the targeted Research Action Structural Genomics (LSH-1.1.2) is “to enable researchers to determine, more effectively and at a higher rate than is currently feasible, the 3-D structure of proteins and other macromolecules, which is important for elucidating protein function and essential for drug design”.
The precise topic that VIZIER is answering is LSH-2003-1.1.2-1:
Comparative structural biology of viral replication - INTEGRATED PROJECT. The focus should be on developing new approaches, tools and technologies for collecting comprehensive structural information on the replicative machinery of RNAviruses to facilitate the identification of potential new drug targets.
As an IP project these are VIZIER’s objectives,
VIZIER is totally in the field of Priority 1 since its objects of interest are pathogenic viruses, a constant and ever-changing threat for human health and security. The choice of the families of viruses and strains has been made to comprehensively cover the known Universe of RNA viruses.
VIZIER fulfils perfectly the objectives of LSH-1.1.2: it is a Structural Genomics program in which the final deliverables are 3D protein structures, obtained thanks to improved High Throughput (HTP) methods. The 3D structures will make it possible to design lead molecules to assess the validity of the targets in a validation process.
VIZIER will focus on the replicative enzymes and their ancillary proteins (replicative machinery) of RNA viruses and thus exactly answers call LSH-2003-1.1.2-1. New methods and strategies will be developed and applied in each of its 5 scientific Sections to deal with the thousands of targets and the large volume of structural information generated. The choice of virus families and strains studied has been made in the light of our present understanding of the replication mechanisms in the different viral families. Finally, the 3D knowledge will be used to design inhibitors that will be validated biochemically, structurally and in-vitro. These molecules are expected to be starting templates for drug design, an outcome that will be proposed to industrial Partners within the industrial platform.
VIZIER has strong links with national and other European programs. French Partners (1 & 4) have been involved in the GENOPOLES program from the Research Ministry which allowed them to acquire most of the necessary equipment. Partner 12 has been funded as a British national facility for protein expression (UOXF, OPPF). Partner 25 has been funded by the Swedish Structural Genomics program. Partners 1, 12, 13 and 25 are part of the EU SPINE FP5 IP project, designed as a “pilot” IP for the FP6. Such participation ensures that sufficient knowledge of scientific and administrative management issues will be present in VIZIER.
Special care will be taken, however, to avoid useless duplication of tasks as well as to ensure that budget issues are treated conveniently for Partners that participate in different IP programs with some common issues (methods or targets). This will be relatively easy to handle since for instance within SPINE, the two tasks related to virus protein structure determination are coordinated by Partners 1 and 12 of VIZIER who will make explicit the role of each IP in their work.
Training and mobility as well as dissemination are key issues in VIZIER due to its structure of central facilities with satellites, as well as with the concept of “Laboratory Without Walls”.
In summary, VIZIER will contribute in a very direct and extensive manner to the policy objectives of the Commission’s Priority area Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health (LSH), as well as to the Commission’s wider objective to “increase European competitiveness in research by uniting the nationally fragmented research activities and thereby forming a strong European research alliance”.
