Description du projet
Démêler les origines des schémas épigénétiques associés à la santé mentale des enfants
Les schémas épigénétiques à la naissance – un mécanisme qui régule l’activité des gènes en réponse aux influences génétiques et environnementales – peuvent être associés à des problèmes de santé mentale courants chez les enfants. Cette découverte potentiellement révolutionnaire est tout à fait inattendue et pourrait entraîner un changement de paradigme dans notre façon d’aborder la santé mentale des enfants. En étudiant les effets de la synchronisation, le projet TEMPO, financé par l’UE, apportera un nouvel éclairage sur les origines des problèmes de santé mentale et ouvrira des possibilités de détection précoce des risques, qui font cruellement défaut. Il combinera des approches novatrices et pluridisciplinaires et la production de nouvelles données exceptionnelles dans un ensemble unique de cohortes européennes longitudinales. L’objectif est d’élucider le «quoi, où et pourquoi» des effets épigénétiques de la synchronisation.
Objectif
TEMPO aims to solve the newly discovered epigenetic 'time puzzle' of child mental health. Recently it has been observed that common mental health problems in children (e.g. hyperactivity, poor impulse-control) are associated with epigenetic patterns at birth - a mechanism that regulates gene activity in response to genetic and environmental influences. Curiously, however, this association is lost when measuring the same epigenetic patterns later in development. This discovery is highly unexpected and potentially ground-breaking: the existence of timing effects could lead to new insights into the origins of mental health and open much-needed opportunities for early risk detection. Yet, what factors drive epigenetic timing effects, how they manifest and why they occur is currently a puzzle.
To solve it, TEMPO will combine innovative, multidisciplinary approaches and the generation of exceptional new data in a unique set of longitudinal European cohorts to address the what, where and why of epigenetic timing effects. Three work packages will be implemented to: (i) Systematically characterize unknown properties of epigenetic timing effects, including their genomic scale, specificity to mental health and persistence into adulthood, using advanced quantitative methods; (ii) Locate epigenetic timing effects with greater precision, by establishing whether effects are driven by epigenetic patterns in specific tissues and cell-types that are found at birth but not later in life; and (iii) Explain timing effects, by disentangling the genetic and environmental origins of epigenetic timing effects on mental health, drawing on the power of genetically sensitive, quasi-experimental designs.
As well as leading a breakthrough in this emerging field and addressing a major knowledge gap at the intersection of biological and psychological sciences, TEMPO has the potential to set in motion a paradigm shift in the way that we conceptualize, understand and approach child mental health.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-BasedInstitution d’accueil
3015 GD Rotterdam
Pays-Bas