What is BOTS?
The specific aim of the project is to use marine hydrogels to select the best treatment for breast cancer patients. But 3D cell culture is a billion-dollar industry where hydrogels have countless applications. It is now widely understood and accepted that drug sensitivity is different when cells are grown in 3D hydrogels compared with plastic dishes, and it is the response in 3D hydrogels that counts in predicting the true response in patients. This means that drug development by the pharmaceutical industry and the selection of treatments for personalised medicine must be carried out using 3D hydrogels. To meet the strong demand for marine hydrogels for cell culture and to ensure consistent quality control of diagnostic tests, we are planning to create two start-ups. The first will step up production of marine hydrogels derived from BOTS. The second will extend diagnostic tests with marine hydrogels using protocols developed by the partners. The lasting effect for the medical teams linked to the partners will be to enable them to select the treatment most likely to prolong the survival and improve the quality of life of cancer patients.
This will enable the marine hydrogels to be scaled up for commercial use. Ultimately, the plan is to set up two SMEs, one to manufacture marine hydrogels on a large scale, the other to carry out drug tests for personalised breast cancer medicine.
WorkPackages
BOTS is structured around three WorkPackages.
WorkPackage 1
Synthesis of new hydrogels, their derivatisation and physicochemical and biological characterisation
This workpackage focuses on the synthesis of new marine hydrogels derived from marine biodiversity, the derivatisation of new marine hydrogels and the characterisation of the physicochemical properties of these new marine hydrogels.
WorkPackage 2
Optimising organoid culture in new marine hydrogels
This workpackage focuses on testing new hydrogels with PDXO (Patient-derived xenograft) and with PDO (Patient-derived organoid).
Workpackage 3
Increasing the selection of treatments in new marine hydrogels
This workpackage will focus on the dispensing of organoids in marine hydrogels and drug screening tests on organoids in marine hydrogels.
Who are the partners
This project is the result of a collaboration between the University of Bordeaux as lead partner, through the Bordeaux Institute of Oncology (BRIC) and the Institute of Chemistry & Biology of Membranes & Nano-objects (CBMN), and the Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour (Institut des Sciences Analytiques et de Physico-Chimie pour l’Environnement et les Matériaux), the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, the CIC bioGune and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).
This consortium is made up of European and international experts in medical oncology research, with a particular focus on breast cancer. The combination of biologists and chemists is an ambitious collaboration that will bring together diverse knowledge and know-how to ensure the success of the BOTS project.
See more about partners, click here