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Investigating human neuronal transplantation integration and interaction at the single cell level

Project description

Investigation of neuronal transplantation at the individual cell level

Neuronal death is a contributing factor to the neuronal loss in chronic neurodegeneration and dementia, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease, and also in cases of cerebral ischemia and traumatic brain injury. Attempts to replace the lost neurons by transplantation look promising and attractive from a medical perspective but require a significantly better understanding of transplants’ integration and interaction with the host environment. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions programme, the NeurTransHet project will employ single-cell transcriptomics technology and high-resolution imaging to investigate the individual cell contribution, the effect of transplant heterogeneity, and the interaction of the transplanted cells with the environment in a mouse model of human neuronal transplantation.

Objective

NeurTransHet will shed light on the heterogeneity of neuronal transplantations and the relationship with their environment. The aim of this project is to bring neuronal transplantation closer to clinical implementation by understanding the intricacies of individual transplanted cell contribution, and later applying this knowledge to engineer them. Neuronal loss underlies various brain disorders, such as Alzheimers disease, and injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, resulting in life-long impairment. For example, dementia, a widespread (a new case every 3 seconds worldwide) condition stemming from neuronal loss, has devastating effects on the patients, their families and their communities. Thus, approaches aiming at replacing the lost neurons by transplantation are not only attractive from a health perspective, but also from a socio-economic standpoint. Many studies have explored neuronal transplantation, albeit with varying degrees of success. This is due to a lack in our understanding of how transplants integrate and interact with their host environment. Additionally, several studies gave evidence that transplanted cells are a heterogenous population, however, so far this heterogeneity has not been addressed in terms of function on integration and interaction. The recent advent of single cell transcriptomic technology, coupled with imaging techniques providing high-resolution spatial information, makes it possible to go beyond global interaction and closely dissect the individual neuronal transplants and their environment. Moreover, the possibility of transplanting cells of human origin in mice increases the clinical relevance of the results. During this two-year fellowship under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Magdalena Gtz, who is a world-renowned scientist in neuronal cell replacement methodologies, I will transition into an independent research group leader investigating the role of cell heterogeneity in disease.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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

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Call for proposal

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

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

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Coordinator

LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN
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.

€ 162 806,40
Address
GESCHWISTER SCHOLL PLATZ 1
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany

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Region
Bayern Oberbayern München, Kreisfreie Stadt
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.

€ 162 806,40
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