Objective
As our understanding of disease translates from basic science to clinical application there is a need for robust preclinical models to test interventions and therapies, which mirror the clinical situation and likely outcomes. This will assist key stage decision making before costly clinical trials are commenced. Skin diseases represent a significant health burden. Non-melanoma skin cancers including basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are the most common human malignancies. Genetic skin diseases, or genodermatoses, are heritable conditions comprising nearly 300 distinct often rare clinical entities, which affect ~30M people in Europe i.e. ~7% of the entire population (http://geneskin.idi.it/homepgs/rareg.php(opens in new window)). Thus, genodermatoses have important medical and social implications and have very limited therapeutic possibilities. This proposal will develop preclinical models which can be used to identify therapeutic targets for the treatment of skin cancer and to explore novel approaches to gene and cell therapy. Organotypical tissue engineered skin constructs combining normal, malignant and diseased epithelial, mesenchymal and connective tissue elements will first be used to examine the effect of tumour microenvironment on cancer cell invasion. Then constructs mimicking 1. intraepithelial, 2. well and 3. poorly differentiated SCCs will be used as surface xenotransplants. Optimisation will examine the contribution of adipocyte and mesenchymal stem cells. A set of genes identified as a characteristic SCC signature by extensive previous studies will then be genetically manipulated to examine the effects of up and down regulation of these genes in tumour progression and invasion. The effects of novel small molecules will also be tested. Surface xenotransplants of organotypical cultures of genetically diseased keratinocytes will be established to assess the long term outcomes of comparing ex vivo gene therapy with protein and cell therapy.
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.
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology genetic engineering gene therapy
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology skin cancer squamous cell carcinoma
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology tissue engineering
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies stem cells
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology skin cancer basal cells
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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-2009-AdG
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
DD1 4HN Dundee
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.