BM0906 - Regulatory RNAs in bacterial pathogenicity: new targets for alternative therapies

The primary objective of this Action is the pooling of knowledge and coordination at the European level of research in the field of infectious diseases. The understanding of RNA-mediated regulatory networks in pathogenic bacteria requires concerted studies in different organisms including Archaea and yeast. Data from different organisms should be made available and comparable through the usage of compatible techniques and approaches. Finally, strategies used by pathogens to adapt to their hosts are to be deciphered with the aim to identify novel targets for therapeutic intervention.

Bacterial infections continue to be a serious health problem worldwide and research to understand and combat bacterial infections remains indispensibale and needs considerable  further efforts. Alternative approaches are needed to address this important concern in novel ways. In the past years, a very high number of regulatory RNAs have been discovered. Many of these control bacterial pathogenicity and the adaptation of bacteria to environmental changes and to their hosts. However, these studies have only been performed in a few model organisms and are still in an initial state. It is now urgent to widen the scope of the present research to include all major human pathogens focusing on common mechanisms between pathogens and identifying pathogen-specific targets. This COST Action connects European research groups from different disciplines working on regulatory RNAs in a large number of different human pathogens. The aim of this COST Action is to bring these experts together allowing synergy between the different approaches to a common goal: to increase basic knowledge on the regulation of bacterial pathogenicity on a genomic scale in order to identify novel targets to develop novel therapies. This COST Action will boost a novel fast expanding research area by especially promoting young investigators.