Objective
An established dogma is that insulin is absolutely required for survival. This notion has been supported by the fact that the sole life-saving intervention available to the millions affected by type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM; an illness caused by pancreatic β-cell loss and hence insulin deficiency) is insulin therapy. This treatment however does not restore normal metabolic homeostasis. In fact, the life-expectancy and -quality of T1DM people is worse compared to normal subjects. In part, this is due to challenging morbidities of T1DM, as for example heart disease and hypoglycemia, both of which are thought to be caused by insulin therapy itself. Indeed, owing to insulin’s lipogenic actions, this treatment likely contributes to the ectopic lipid deposition (i.e.: in non-adipose tissues) and extremely high incidence of coronary artery disease seen in T1DM subjects. Also, due to insulin’s potent, fast-acting, glycemia-lowering action, this therapy significantly increases the risk of hypoglycemia; a disabling and life threatening event. Because insulin therapy does not restore metabolic homeostasis in T1DM subjects, better intervention is urgently needed. To these ends, we and others have shown that the hyperglycemic and lethal consequences of insulin deficiency can be rescued by administration of the adipocyte-secreted hormone leptin. Not only these results challenge an established view, they also raise a fundamental biological and medical question: what are the mechanisms by which leptin improves hyperglycemia and permits survival in the context of insulin deficiency? This proposal aims at identifying the critical cellular and molecular components underlying the beneficial effects of leptin in the context of insulin deficiency. Once identified, manipulation of these components has the potential to improve life-expectancy and -quality of the millions affected by insulin deficiency (e.g.: T1DM and also some late-stage type 2 diabetics).
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 clinical medicine endocrinology diabetes
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
- 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.
ERC-2013-CoG
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
1211 Geneve
Switzerland
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.