Project description
Is there a link between diet and DNA damage?
There are many reports underscoring the association between nutrition and cancer risk, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. The EU-funded METAREPAIR project will work on the hypothesis that high-fat diets affect DNA repair processes, leading to genomic instability and epigenetic marks such as histone and RNA methylation. Researchers will conduct experiments on prostate cancer cells and determine how manipulation of key metabolites affects these epigenetic marks and DNA repair. Apart from fundamental knowledge, results will have translational impact and pave the way for precision nutrition interventions as an anticancer treatment.
Objective
Preclinical and epidemiological studies indicate that some dietary patterns, such as high-fat diet (HFD), are associated with increased risk for many cancers, including prostate cancer (PCa). However, our mechanistic understanding of the link between diet and cancer remains limited. To help deconvolute the connection between nutrition and tumorigenesis, METAREPAIR will investigate the role of genomic instability in mediating the effect of nutritional metabolism on PCa aggressiveness. I hypothesize that the oncogenicity of ‘HFD-like’ diets is in part due to a diet-induced erosion of DNA repair capacity caused by altered epigenetic and epitranscriptomic landscapes. Based on enticing preliminary data indicating that diet-dependent alterations of one carbon metabolites can impact DNA damage repair efficacy and DNA repair-pathway choice, I present a model whereby changes in nutritional metabolism affect the activity of writers and erasers of histone and RNA methylation marks and consequently impair their role in orchestrating DNA damage repair. I will test this model by manipulating in vitro the levels of key metabolites and then use an innovative experimental toolkit to assess the dynamics of DNA repair in PCa cells. The effect of metabolic manipulation onto DNA repair will be studied through the mechanistic lens of RNA and histone methylation. This diet-DNA damage link will be tested in vivo as a tool for precision nutrition intervention to sensitize PCa tumours to DNA-damaging therapies. The findings of METAREPAIR could unveil a yet-unexplored link between metabolic perturbations and genomic stability, with far reaching implications at fundamental as well as translational level. By allowing me to deliver innovative science in both the applied and basic aspects of DNA repair and RNA role in it, METAREPAIR represents a career-changing opportunity that will place me in a strong position to pursue my next career step of becoming an independent researcher.
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 clinical medicine oncology prostate cancer
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
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.
-
H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
See all projects funded under this programme
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.
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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
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.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20139 Milano
Italy
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.