CORONA & KI
Influence of formyl peptide receptors on coronavirus infections
Formyl peptide receptors (FPRs) are a small family of immunomodulatory molecules that play a role in many important human diseases such as bacterial and viral infections, but also in Alzheimer’s and prion diseases, immunodeficiency, diabetes and cancer. Envelope protein fragments of coronaviruses and some other viruses also modulate the activity of this receptor group. Interestingly, fragments of coronaviruses are particularly potent inhibitors of FPRs. The significance of this mechanism for the course of SARS-CoV-2 infections is not yet known.
The Corona & KI project is investigating the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on formyl peptide receptors. Based on these results, AI-based algorithms will be developed to quickly and easily predict the effect of differently mutated coronaviruses on different receptor gene variants. Automated high-throughput screening methods are used to collect the necessary measurement data. The results will be used as training data to develop new AI algorithms using already established feature selection models and deep learning strategies. The predictions of the AI model are then checked experimentally and the model is refined if necessary. The optimized software tool will then be made available for other scientists to download. The project participants expect that their AI programs, in addition to predicting the dose-effect relationships of interaction partners, may also be able to contribute to the assessment of individual risks and probable disease progression in Covid-19.
Project management:
Prof. Dr. Bernd Bufe, biologist, Molecular Immunology and Immunosensors research group, member of the Integrated Miniaturized Systems (IMS) research focus area
Project partner: Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences
The project is funded by the “HAW direkt” program
