Objective
Aspergillus fumigatus is the most important air-borne fungal pathogen, causing severe infections with invasive growth in immunocompromised patients. For growth in all habitats, the fungus needs to be able to sense environmental stimuli and to transduce signals via specific signalling cascades. Calmodulin/calcineurin, Ras/cAMP, mTOR and general Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathways are involved in the regulation of various cellular responses in eukaryotes. Previous studies revealed that the central core of the MAPK cell wall integrity signalling pathway in A. fumigatus is composed of three protein kinases. Deletion of these genes resulted in severe sensitivity of the mutants against cell wall-disturbing compounds and drastic alterations of the fungal morphology. Nevertheless, the mutants were still virulent in a murine infection model. Even more, therapeutic treatment with medical commercial cell wall-acting compounds, like echinocandins and azoles, did not result in effective treatment against aspergillosis, indicating the importance of cell wall assembling pathways compensating the inhibition caused by cell wall-disturbing compounds. Protein kinase activation requires phosphorylation. This process is reversible even in the continued presence of activating stimuli. The importance of protein phosphatases for signalling pathways and cross talk interactions is emerging. Ontology classification analysis revealed that the A. fumigatus genome contains 24 genes coding for putative protein phosphatases. A comprehensive and extensive study on protein phosphatases in filamentous fungi has never been attempted so far. Here, we propose to study protein phosphatase families in A. fumigatus. Mutant strains will be used to investigate cell wall compensatory pathways in order to identify new molecules for therapeutic intervention against aspergillosis.
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 computer and information sciences knowledge engineering ontology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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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-2009-RG
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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
07745 Jena
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.