Project description
Characterisation of a new repair pathway for DNA breaks
Specific loci in the DNA are particularly prone to instability and DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Initially considered to be rare events and caused by exogenous factors such as irradiation, DSBs also occur in physiological conditions and may lead to oncogenesis or neurological impairment. The EU-funded GENECARE project focuses on the recently discovered transcription coupled DSB repair (TC-DSBR) pathway and aims to characterise the implicated protein network. Insight into the role of chromatin and nuclear organisation in TC-DSBR will help assess the potential of the pathway as a target for cancer therapy.
Objective
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are toxic lesions, holding the potential to generate mutations, copy number alterations and translocations. Beyond programmed DSBs induced during meiosis and antibody repertoire generation, DSBs were historically seen as rare, mostly therapy-induced DNA lesions. However, recent work unequivocally revealed that endogenous DSBs occur far more frequently that initially believed, including in physiological conditions, such as neuron stimulation, and mainly fall within transcribed loci, partly due to topoisomerase II activity. Notably, altered repair of these DSBs is not only emerging as a driver of oncogenesis but also of many developmental, neurological and aging-associated diseases.
Our lab has pioneered the discovery of a dedicated pathway that, alike TC-NER for damaged nucleotides, is actually mobilized to repair such DSBs in transcribed loci, coined as Transcription Coupled DSB repair (TC-DSBR). This pathway entails chromatin signaling, nuclear reorganization and the regulation of transcription, but remains poorly characterized overall.
Using advanced genomics, proteomics and microscopy, here we intend to perform an in-depth characterization of the TC-DSBR protein network, of the function of chromatin and nuclear organization in this process, to explore its potential as a target for cancer therapy and to investigate its relevance in maintaining genomic and epigenomic integrity in physiological conditions that trigger DSB in active genes, here in stimulated neurons.
By deciphering the mechanisms that ensure repair of DSBs in transcribed loci, this project holds the potential to expand our knowledge on the biogenesis of translocations and cancer onset, to provide new topoisomerase-poison-based therapeutic strategies but also to provide major breakthroughs in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases.
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 proteomics
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
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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.
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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.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2020-ADG
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75794 PARIS
France
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