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B cell receptor engagement and signalling in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: identify the structural and functional requirements for disease development and progression.

Project description

Discovering new associations between signalling pathways and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

The B cell receptor (BCR) protein plays a critical role in the development and progression of B cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) as indicated by the efficacy of drugs blocking BCR signalling, but the mechanism behind this remains poorly understood. The discovery that BCRs can self-associate and signal in the absence of extrinsic antigens highlighted a novel mechanism for BCR engagement and signalling. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the BCRES-CLL project aims to define the selectiveness of the two BCR signalling mechanisms and their association with specific biological and clinical outcomes. The project objectives include the assessment of the BCR engagement features linked with CLL clinical manifestation, the discovery of normal B cells expressing CLL-like BCRs and their characterisation, and the identification of genes and pathways associated with BCR engagement and CLL progression mechanisms.

Objective

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most prevalent leukemia among adult Caucasians, is a disease characterized by the clonal expansion of B lymphocytes expressing CD5. The B-cell receptor (BCR) plays a critical role in CLL development and progression as indicated by the efficacy of drugs blocking BCR signaling. However, the mechanism(s) underneath BCR responsiveness are not well-defined and CLL remains incurable. In the classical view, an interaction between BCR and extrinsic antigen is responsible for such signalling. The discovery that CLL BCRs can self-associate and signal in the absence of extrinsic antigens (intrinsic binding) highlighted a novel mechanism for BCR engagement and signalling. Growing amount of evidences suggest that both extrinsic and intrinsic engagement are required for leukemia development and progression.

Herein, we aim to better define the selectiveness of the two BCR engagement mechanisms and their association with specific biological and clinical characteristics. To better define such elusive associations, machine learning algorithms will be developed and used to define the specific links among the biological data.

Specifically, we will i) assess BCR engagement features associated with CLL clinical aggressiveness and responsiveness to stimuli; ii) identify normal B cells expressing CLL-like BCRs and evaluate their engagement features and similarity with CLL B cells; iii) identify genes and genetic pathways distinctly associated with either mechanism of BCR engagement and/or CLL aggressiveness.

The successful outcome of this proposal would generate biologically and clinically relevant information for prevention, prognosis and therapy of CLL.

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI GENOVA
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 183 473,28
Address
VIA BALBI 5
16126 GENOVA
Italy

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Region
Nord-Ovest Liguria Genova
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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.

€ 183 473,28
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