Novel polymeric reducing agents as mucus modulators (C04)

• Subject Area: Preparatory and Physical Chemistry of Polymers
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 431232613

Airway obstruction by mucus with abnormal viscoelastic properties is a key feature of muco-obstructive lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF). Emerging evidence suggests that increased oxidation and cross-linking by intramolecular disulfide bonds of secreted mucins (MUC5B and MUC5AC) associated with airway inflammation is a key mechanism underlying mucus dysfunction in these chronic lung diseases. In this project, we will therefore employ dendritic polyglycerol sulfates (dPGS) to develop novel reducing agents with mucolytic and anti-inflammatory properties, and to determine their potency and efficacy in mucus from CF patients and in a mouse model of CF lung disease.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1449: Dynamic Hydrogels at Biointerfaces
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Rainer Haag; Professor Dr. Daniel Christian Lauster; Professor Dr. Marcus Mall