Objective
"Most women will suffer at least one Candida albicans infection in their life. While the majority of infections are not life-threatening, 50% of systemic infections in immunocompromised patients are lethal. Treating C. albicans is challenging due to the close association with its human host, paucity of drug targets and drug resistances. The conserved essential heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) governs virulence, morphogenesis and drug resistance in C. albicans. Yet, Hsp90 inhibition during mouse candidemia caused host toxicity.
Hsp90 does not operate alone. In C. albicans it associates with ten co-chaperones. In C. albicans but not its non-pathogenic relative Saccharomyces cerevisiae, co-chaperone genes are close to telomeres, which is reminiscent of virulence genes in other pathogens. By targeting virulence genes, instead of essential genes, C. albicans virulence could be decreased without reducing its fitness, which would alleviate selective pressure favoring drug resistance mutations. Thus, are C. albicans co-chaperones virulence factors that could be exploited as drug targets?
Hsp90 co-chaperones will be investigated in three objectives: (1) Quantify the impact of Hsp90 co-chaperones on fungal virulence. Gene deletion mutants will be tested in four virulence assays. (2) Determine the causes and consequences of the telomere proximal localization. Loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) and transcriptional silencing will be measured in wild type as well as LOH and silencing mutants to determine cause of proximal telomere location and consequences on virulences. (3) Elucidate the transcriptional regulation of Hsp90 co-chaperone genes. Co-chaperones will be screened for transcription factor (TF) binding sites and ChIP-seq conducted on TFs controlling co-chaperone expression.
Understanding the virulence potential and transcriptional landscape of Hsp90 co-chaperones will yield insights into fungal virulence strategies and further their development as drug targets."
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
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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-2013-CIG
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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.
MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG)
Coordinator
BA2 7AY BATH
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.