Objective
Antibiotics kill bacteria or inhibit their growth by targeting essential cellular processes. In response to antibiotic exposure, bacteria activate gene regulation programs that are specific to the action of the antibiotic. These responses to individual antibiotics are often well-mapped, but how do bacteria respond dynamically to drugs? And is this regulation optimized for survival and growth in the presence of the drugs?
We propose an interdisciplinary experimental-theoretical approach to measure, model, and synthetically manipulate the regulatory response to antibiotics. Specifically, we will (1) use an automated robotic system, an Escherichia coli library of fluorescent transcriptional reporters, and RNA-seq to measure changes in growth, physiology, and global gene expression in response to antibiotics; (2) develop theoretical models of gene regulation and predict ‘re-wirings’ of the gene regulation network that would worsen or improve growth and survival under antibiotic stress; (3) use a synthetic biology approach to test these predictions and to quantify the extent of optimization in bacterial gene regulation. We will develop this approach using the powerful model system Escherichia coli and then apply our key findings to Staphylococcus aureus, a clinically more relevant pathogen.
Our work will lead to the first quantitative genome-wide characterization of the extent to which microbial stress responses are optimized for responding to drugs. We anticipate that this knowledge can be exploited to improve drug treatments. The systematic fundamental research proposed here will reveal exploitable weaknesses in cellular responses to drugs. It will thus contribute to the alleviation of one of the most serious public health concerns of our time: the rapid spread of drug-resistant bacterial pathogens, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), which coincides with a dramatic decline in the rate at which new efficient antibiotics are discovered.
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 health sciences public health
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences synthetic biology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antibiotics
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
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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.
Topic(s)
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.
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.
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.
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
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.
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.
MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG)
Coordinator
3400 KLOSTERNEUBURG
Austria
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.