Characterization and modelling of dietary effects mediated by gut microbiota on lipid metabolism

Objective

Dysregulation of lipid homeostasis is related to multiple major global healthcare problems today, including aging, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It has already been shown that nutritional modulation of lipid homeostasis via direct supplementation, e.g. n-3 fatty acids, or via indirect mechanisms, e.g. dietary polyphenols, has beneficial effects on human health. There is growing evidence that ether phospholipids such as plasmalogens play a central role in mediating the beneficial effects, but the underlying mechanisms are not understood. ETHERPATHS will develop systems biology tools that will facilitate studies of dietary interventions aiming to modulate lipid homeostasis. Specifically, we will develop (1) models that enable studies of gut microbiota and its effect on host cell metabolism, (2) dynamic models of systemic lipid metabolism, and (3) pathway reconstruction methods to study tissue-specific effects of dietary interventions. All models will be optimized in the context of studies of dietary interventions and will be integrated into a sophisticated software platform. In silico strategies will be complemented by multiple experimental approaches, including (1) dietary interventions involving n-3 fatty acids and polyphenols, combined with tracer studies in vitro and in vivo (2) in vitro colon model (3) in vivo germ-free and conventional models of altered lipid metabolism, specifically of plasmalogen deficiency. ETHERPATHS includes academic and industrial partners with combined unique expertise in information technology, bioinformatics, metabolic and physiological modelling, systems engineering, biochemistry, microbiology, lipid metabolism, metabolomics, obesity and metabolic syndrome, and clinical nutrition. We expect the ETHERPATHS tools to be broadly applied in nutrition research, and anticipate that the novel findings generated within the project will be applied for development of new food products for better 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: The European Science Vocabulary.

• medical and health sciences clinical medicine endocrinology diabetes
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
• medical and health sciences clinical medicine cardiology cardiovascular diseases
• medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
• medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition obesity

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• bioinformatics
• gut microflora
• lipidomics
• metabolomics
• systems biology

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-KBBE - Specific Programme "Cooperation": Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology

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.

• KBBE-2007-2-2-08 - Systems Biology and bioanalytical tools for nutrition research

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-KBBE-2007-2A
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.

CP-IP - Large-scale integrating project

Coordinator

Participants (9)