About EDICT

EDICT is funded by the EC Seventh Framework Programme. One of the first projects to be funded under the new scheme, EDICT has 27 European partners from twelve countries. The project started in February 2008 and will last for four years.

The overall aim of the project is the determination of the structure-function relationships of protein channels and transporters of clinical significance in biological membranes and initial candidate drug design and screening.

To achieve this aim there are six key objectives:

• Advancement of in silico analyses for modelling and structure prediction of membrane proteins;
• Expression of target proteins and provision of a continuous supply for analyses;
• Application of leading technologies in structural biology - X-ray crystallography, electron miscroscopy and nuclear magentic resonance - underpinned by high throughput screening to achieve full structural determination;
• Identification of protein domains for binding of drugs;
• Virtual design and experimental tests of pharmaceutical candidates to generate 'hits';
• Integrated structural and functional analyses to validate potential drug targets.

 
Highlights of results achieved so far
In the first twelve months a number of key initial steps have been accomplished:

• Recruitment of all the research staff;
• Kick-off meeting held;
• Annual General Assemblies held in Edec Roc and Tallin.
• Initial release of the transporter/channel section of the database;
• Database of clinically relevant transporter and ion channel genes and their homologues to be functionally and structurally investigated;
• Novel structures and models of aquaporins, P-ATPases, mitochondrial transporters and an ion channel have been determined;
• Expression constructs for protein production in various hosts have been commissioned;
• High throughput crystallization methods for membrane transport proteins, ion channels and their complexes have been updated and disseminated.

Expected final results and their potential impact and use
The following end results of the EDICT project are expected:

• New structures of transport and ion channel proteins;
• Structure determinations by 2D and 3D crystallography, by NMR, or by advanced homology modelling, of ligand-protein complexes in the membrane;
• Identification of initial virtual ligand 'hits' using in-silico methods;
• Screening and synthesis of actual 'hit' compounds as a preliminary to the development of 'lead' compounds for new drugs;
• Training of a workforce of over 47 in an area of expanding clinical need.