TACRODRUGS: in the quest for new antidepressants

i3S is now the leading and coordinating institution of TACRODRUGS, an international consortium aiming to develop a new family of antidepressants, differing from the existing ones in its therapeutic target. The consortium comprises seven research teams from four countries (Portugal, Spain, Germany and Norway) and is being funded with roughly €2M.

Marta Mendes, i3S researcher and coordinator of the Portuguese team, specifies the goal of TACRODRUGS: developing industrial microbian platforms to produce compounds of pharmaceutical interest. “We’re working with a compound already in the market, but used for other purposes, and execute minor changes in order to create a new product, with a new application”, explains the researcher.

“Optimizing bacterial production” is the mission of the i3S team, so that “production in a larger scale is attainable, as well as turning the compound profitable to the pharmaceutical industry”. Marta Mendes leads the team assigned to develop this project via synthetic biology techniques to genetically manipulate bacteria producer of natural compounds.

FK506 is the molecule at the root of it all. It’s an immunosuppressant widely used in clinical practice and a natural byproduct of Streptomyces bacteria. By inducing genetic changes in the structure of the molecule FK506 and, subsequently, producing bacteria submitted to metabolic optimization, the team will obtain repurposed compounds. These new compounds will inhibit biologic processes linked to psychological disorders, depression among them.

At the moment, TACRODRUGS consortium does not involve any pharmaceutical company, although many have already declared interest in this potential new line of compounds.