Objective
Aging is a major risk factor for neurodegeneration, cancer and heart disease. Understanding what goes wrong with age, in particular how the proteome becomes dysfunctional may help to slow down or prevent these age-dependent diseases. Until recently, it was widely assumed that protein aggregation was mainly restricted to the extensive aggregation of a few hallmark proteins in diseases such as neurodegeneration and systemic amyloidosis. However, we have demonstrated using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans that during aging in the absence of disease many more proteins are prone to aggregate with age. We will use this physiological protein aggregation as a novel readout to measure the health and age of the organism. Preventing this process will presumably “free up” the cellular systems and keep proteins functional even in an old organism.
Overall, we seek to understand how protein homeostasis becomes deregulated with age leading to this widespread protein aggregation. We aim to achieve this by complementary strategies:
We will establish a novel method to image protein aggregation dynamics and to determine how the intracellular quality-control systems regulate age-dependent aggregation. Using state-of-the art proteomics, we will distinguish which types of physiological aggregation are controlled by each of the main actors in the quality-control system. Finally, we will open new horizons by performing an RNA interference screen using a novel C. elegans model for extracellular protein aggregation.
As many of the mechanisms which control aging in C. elegans are evolutionary conserved in mammals, we predict that our discoveries are relevant to higher organisms including humans. Our long-term goal is to identify novel targets which could be used to develop therapies to prevent diseases related to protein aggregation and to promote healthy aging.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins proteomics
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
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-2012-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
53127 Bonn
Germany
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.