Research Explorer

Project

Development of small-molecule inhibitors targeting pro-inflammatory and pruritogenic IL-31
Acronym
SMITe ITch
Code
F2020/IOF-ConcepTT/075
Duration
15 July 2020 → 30 September 2022
Funding
Regional and community funding: Industrial Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Medical and health sciences
    • Molecular biophysics
    • Inflammation
    • Proteins
    • Structural biology
    • Compound screening
    • Biomolecular modelling and design
    • Structural biology
Keywords
skin diseases and itch atopic dermatitis/eczema drug design small-molecule inhibitors
 
Project description

The cytokine IL-31 and its cognate receptors (IL31R and OSMR) are validated molecular targets for the treatment of atopic dermatitis and associated chronic itch. The prevalence of such a disease combination is considerably high worldwide and keeps rising. To respond to such a large scale growing medical need, the drug market against atopic dermatitis keeps growing and is repositioning itself towards more effective and affordable therapeutics.

The aim of this application is to identify new candidate drugs for this unmet need in dermatology.