Project description
Human astrocytes and their impact on Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains poorly understood and currently has no cure. Existing therapeutic targets are limited and insufficient, highlighting the urgent need to identify new mechanisms, pathways and treatment strategies. However, progress has been hindered by species-specific differences and the limitations of traditional rodent models. To address this challenge, the ERC-funded hASTROCURE project will use humanised chimeric mice to study human astrocytes (h-astrocytes) – key brain cells that remain largely unexplored in the context of AD. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the project aims to deepen our understanding of AD development and progression, and to clarify the role of h-astrocytes in these processes. The findings are expected to pave the way for novel therapeutic interventions.
Objective
The pathogenesis of Alzheimer´s disease (AD) is not fully understood and no cure is available so far. Current therapeutic targets are insufficient and there is an urgent need for finding new pathways and mechanisms and novel targets to treat this terrible disease. Due to critical species-specific differences and the limitations of rodent models of AD, humanized models are necessary to capture the complexity of the disease process. My lab has pioneered the use of humanized chimeric mice to study human astrocytes (h-astrocytes), integral components of the brain and understudied in AD. I propose here to investigate with a multidisciplinary approach their contribution to AD development and progression.
We have already showed the potential of chimeric mice to identify novel and unexpected contributions of h-astrocytes to AD pathology. hASTROCURE will take advantage of our unique model to drive breakthrough discoveries in our understanding of h-astrocytes and their role in AD. We will investigate in humanized chimeras what is the impact of the genetic make-up (risk vs protective variants in AD risk genes) on h-astrocytes molecular states and functions as disease evolves and how they contribute to pathological features and AD progression. The overarching aim is to dissect central pathways leading to h-astrocyte activation towards detrimental states and target those pathways, which can provide the necessary knowledge to enable the development of novel astrocyte-specific therapeutic strategies.
This pioneering project involves a set of innovative approaches as an essential platform for studying human genetics in h-astrocytes, in an AD relevant context. My experience and the work that my lab has developed these last years support the conceptual basis of the proposal and demonstrate its feasibility. hASTROCURE will go beyond the state-of-the-art providing groundbreaking information about h-astrocytes and their contribution to AD, and will help to define new strategies for AD.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology dementia alzheimer
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
48940 Leioa
Spain
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