Objective
Autophagy is a conserved, highly regulated degradative pathway transferring cytoplasmic components in autophagosomes to lysosomes providing energy for cellular metabolism. In multicellular organisms autophagy is essential for tissue homeostasis and deficient autophagy is implicated in a broad range of diseases e.g. cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. To develop therapeutic strategies targeting autophagy a comprehensive understanding of the molecular protein machinery mediating and regulating autophagy is required.
In a genome wide siRNA screen the host laboratory identified SCOC, a small Golgi protein, as a novel positive regulator of starvation-induced autophagosome formation. SCOC forms a complex with FEZ1, which also contains ULK1. FEZ1 negatively regulates autophagy and FEZ1 and the related FEZ2 associate with ULK1 and mTORC1 kinase complexes. The TOR signalling pathway is central in nutrient sensing. Starvation inactivates mTOR kinase leading to ULK kinase activation and autophagy induction. SCOC and FEZ also interact with the tumor suppressor UVRAG, a subunit of class III Beclin1-PI(3)K lipid kinase complexes essential for autophagy induction and progression. Autophagy is crucial for nervous system development and neuronal survival. Interestingly, SCOC and FEZ1 are highly expressed in neurons and required for axon elongation in C. elegans.
I hypothesize that SCOC and FEZ are membrane-proximal scaffold and adapter proteins important in regulating and coordinating the three key autophagic signalling complexes, mTORC1, ULK1 and UVRAG-Beclin1-PI(3)K. I aim to understand the molecular details of this function and how they relate to vertebrate nervous system development and homeostasis. Our multidisciplinary approach (biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, imaging and zebrafish techniques) characterizing SCOC and FEZ function may also impact development of new therapeutic strategies in targeting autophagy in disease.
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
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics mathematical analysis functional analysis
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
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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-2012-IEF
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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.
Coordinator
E20 1JQ LONDON
United Kingdom
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.