Objective
Mitochondria are cell organelles that provide the energetic requirements of the body. The majority of cellular ATP is produced by the membrane protein ATP synthase through a proton gradient across the mitochondrial inner membrane. Alterations in ATP synthase biogenesis can result in severe mitochondrial diseases affecting tissues with high energy requirements as brain and muscles. Mitochondrial diseases affect approximately 20 million people in the EU, causing 35 % of deaths during the first year of life of newborns. However, the available therapeutic approaches, are still extremely limited and there is no specific treatment for ATP synthase deficiencies. To improve the treatments currently available for mitochondrial diseases, the project will focus on the realization of artificial mitochondria (AM). Based on artificial lipid vesicles, AM will be fabricated by means of microfluidics methods, a powerful tool able to produce identical replicas of a given bio-inspired membrane-object. ATP synthase will be expressed and assembled within the lipid bilayer by encapsulating cell-free protein expression systems. To test the ability of AM as in-situ energy fabrication systems, targeting-AM will be endocytosed inside cultured cells and ATP synthesis will be triggered by taking advantage of the proton gradient provided by endosomes. Finally, by enclosing other plasmids encoding for diverse proteins, AM can be used as energy-factoring pockets to elicit protein expression just when internalized within cells. This novel approach may constitute an advanced new concept in gene therapy to more effectively create breakthroughs in improving human health.
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 physical sciences classical mechanics fluid mechanics microfluidics
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology genetic engineering gene therapy
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
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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.
ERC-2013-StG
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.
Host institution
28040 Madrid
Spain
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.