Unraveling the contribution of Lactobacillus crispatus and its derivatives to vaginal health: an ‘omics’ approach (CrispOmics)

PRIN 2022 PNRR Parolin

Abstract

Infections and inflammation of the female genital tract highly impact women’s quality of life. Aerobic and enteric bacteria generally behave as vaginal commensals but, in certain conditions, can lead to aerobic vaginitis; Lactobacillus spp. exert antagonistic activity towards genital pathogens, but their contribution to vaginal health is still fragmented, also because of the lack of appropriate models. CrispOmics aims to dissect the crosstalk between the vaginal epithelium, the beneficial members of the resident microbiota and pathogens. Optimized interaction models host-microbiota-pathogen will be developed and analyzed by an “omics” approach. Data obtained by transcriptomics, untargeted proteomics and metabolomics will be integrated to identify the major driving forces of the pathogenic switching, providing deeper understanding of bacterial infections insurgence. CrispOmics will prompt the elaboration of preventive strategies based on the endogenous defenses to improve women’s health.

Dettagli del progetto

Responsabile scientifico: Carola Eleonora Parolin

Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Farmacia e Biotecnologie

Coordinatore:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)

Contributo totale di progetto: Euro (EUR) 236.947,00
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 118.474,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio 30/11/2023
Data di fine: 28/02/2026

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