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 polymeric 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, until 12/2024; Professor Dr. Marcus Mall