InteractHoMiG
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UNDERSTANDING THE POTENTIAL OF MODULATING HOST-MICROBIOME-GLYCAN INTERACTIONS (“THE TRIANGLE OF SWEETNESS”) TO TACKLE NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES (INTERACTHoMiG)
This project has recieved funding from the European Union’s Horizon Research and Innovation programme under the HORIZON-EIC (HORIZON-EIC-2023-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES-01) grant agreement No. 101161110
Project description
Glycans, namely human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), play crucial roles in the functions of the gut, metabolism, and immunity. While HMOs are vital in infant development and exhibit bioactive properties in adults, it is required to analyze and decode their functions in depth.
The current joint project by Utrecht University and Inbiose aims to identify novel glycosyltransferase enzymes, produce previously inaccessible HMOs, test glycan-microbe interactions in an ex vivo simulated gut microenvironment, decode direct and indirect effects of HMOs on the gut barrier in an in vitro cell model, and integrate the host-microbe-glycan interplay (“the triangle of sweetness”) in a human-microbial crosstalk (HuMiX) model. Thanks to powerful statistical methods, machine learning, and natural language processing techniques, we envision a thorough understanding about glycan structure-function relationship and predict their potential applications with stratifications based on gender, diet, and health conditions. We expect to validate at least one HMO alleviating impact of inflammation under two diets that is ready for a clinical trial. Cutting-edge Omics methods and data analysis pipelines will allow us to understand better the host-microbe-glycan triangle, and will provide both a wealth of research data and an expanded range of HMOs as research tools and potential therapeutics and/or preventives in human non-communicable diseases and food-related health conditions.
Our unique consortium capacities and a wealth of experience in glycoengineering, biosynthesis, bioinformatics, and noncommunicable chronic disease targeting will enable us to achieve the project goals. The project will create additional opportunities for Utrecht University and Inbiose in the further exploration and commercialisation of HMOs. We fully expect InteractHoMiG to be a milestone project for glycobiology research and prebiotic/probiotic/postbiotic/synbiotic R&D within the EU and worldwide.
The InteractHoMiG project work plan is divided into 10 WPs designed to maximise the use of time and resources to achieve the proposed objectives and summarised in the PERT chart.
WP1&2 will be dedicated to glycan library creation and synthesis.
WP3&4&5 will aim to characterize the host-glycan-gut microbiota interaction to generate a wealth of data on the effects of glycans.
WP6 will deal with deciphering the glycan structure-function relationships and prediction of their potential applications.
WP7 will be an in vivo validation of a selected glycan molecule in a rodent model.
WP8 encompasses the EIC Pathfinder Challenge portfolio activities are therefore will be dedicated to promoting awareness of the technologies developed in the InteractHoMiG project and disseminating results of the project across the scientific community and market stakeholders, to ensure their feedback and participation to the project outcomes and secure their collaboration for future development. The WP will also be dedicated exploiting project results. All activities will be coordinated within WP9, which will be dedicated to ensuring prompt implementation of project activities within the set deadlines and budget.
Finally, to promote the synergies of the projects and the impact of the precision nutrition program, WP10 will be dedicated for the portfolio activities, e.g. effective communications, standardization activities, discussing on common strategies, ….
Partners
News and events
On June 24th, 2025, we held the biannual General Assembly meeting of project InteractHoMiG. It was a pleasure to welcome our colleagues from Utrecht University to Inbiose for a productive and inspiring day of collaboration. We shared exciting updates on:
- The progress in the production of HMOs
- Advancements in building in vitro models
- Our growing interactions with other projects within the EIC pathfinder portfolio on precision nutrition
The day concluded with relaxed and cheerful summer drinks outdoors – a perfect way to celebrate our shared progress and team spirit.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of this meeting. Looking forward to the next chapter of Project InteractHoMiG!
On 31/03/2025, team members of the InteractHoMiG project gathered on a biannual general assembly meeting. The event was hosted by the group of Prof. Saskia Braber at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Utrecht University). We updated each other on the progress of making glycan library, cell models, interaction with other projects of the EIC Precision Nutrition portfolio and plans for the next phase. We enjoyed the lab tour and admired all the facilities of the group, ended with a cozy drink session. Thanks Saskia, Marit and Carlon for the fantastic organization of the meeting! We’ll see you all next time at Inbiose!