Developmental Projects
RM DP 001: Identification of alphaviral polymerase inhibitors
Introduction: RNA viruses cause diseases ranging from the common cold to brain damaging encephalitis and deadly hemorrhagic bleeding disorders. As with most viral ailments, there are few medical options for treating and curing these diseases. This goal of this project is to find chemical compounds that can stop the function of the essential viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase protein, providing a first step toward developing drugs that prevent the growth of these viruses.
Principal Investigator: Olve B. Peersen, PhD.
Institution: Colorado State University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fort Collins, CO
RM DP 002: Identification of isopentenyl diphosphate synthesis inhibitors in Burkholderia
Introduction: The goal of this project is to identify inhibitors that can be used as lead compounds for development novel antimicrobials.
Principal Investigator: Dean Crick, PhD.
Institution: Colorado State University, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Fort Collins, CO
RM DP 003: Ergothioneine Treatment of ARDS following CDC A-C infection
Introduction: ERGO has considerable potential as a broad-spectrum and life-saving therapy for ARDS. Testing and developing ERGO as a treatment for ARDS caused by CDC A-C infectious agents is a highly worthwhile endeavor with respect to the overall RMRCE goals and the important objective of discovering a therapy for these deadly infectious disorders. The apparent ability of ERGO to be effective as a post-treatment is important since pre-treatment will not always be possible for CDC A-C pathogen infections.
Principal Investigator: John E. Repine, M.D.
Institution: University of Colorado Denver, Webb-Waring Center, Aurora, CO
Co-Principal Investigator: Richard A. Bowen, PhD.
Institution: Colorado State University, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Fort Collins, CO
RM DP 004: Development of a therapy to attenuate lung damage in Coxiella infection
Introduction: We have found that treatment of bacteria- or virus-infected mice with protein cage nanoparticles, attenuates lung damage resulting from the host inflammatory response to infection. This unique treatment has a broad spectrum of pathogen effectiveness and targets a disease process not affected by conventional antimicrobial therapies. This project seeks to optimize the protective activity of the nanoparticles and to combine this treatment with antibiotics or non-specific adjuvants to treat all aspects of disease caused by lung infections.
Principal Investigator: Allen G. Harmsen, PhD.
Institution: Montana State University, Department of Veterinary Molecular Biology, Bozeman, MT