Objective
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reside in the bone marrow where they throughout life sustain continuous blood production through a controlled balance of differentiation and self-renewal. Transplantation of HSCs from a healthy person can replace a defective hematopoietic system of a patient thereby curing the patient for life. HSCs have found increasing therapeutic application, e.g. in hematologic malignancies and hematopoietic genetic disorders. This applies not only to the allogeneic transplantation setting but also to the autologous setting where advances in genetic engineering technologies have enabled autologous gene therapies. However, major challenges remain in both settings pertaining to the scarcity of HSCs, as well as the cells being partially refractory to precise gene correction.
In this research proposal, I will address these challenges by leveraging the unique power of repurposed CRISPR/Cas systems for precise transcriptional manipulation of HSCs. In these systems, the normal DNA-cleaving ability of the Cas9 enzyme is disabled (dCas9) while transcriptional activators or inhibitors are fused to dCas9. By targeting the dCas9-effector proteins to transcriptional start site regions by sgRNA programming, gene transcription can be activated (CRISPRa) or inhibited (CRISPRi). Complex transcriptional engineering is readily achieved using multiple sgRNAs and orthogonal CRISPR systems for simultaneous CRISPRa and CRISPRi.
I will apply these technologies to investigate and enhance therapeutically relevant HSC pathways, namely homologous recombination for precise gene editing, self-renewal, and bone marrow homing. These biological phenomena have previously been studied with techniques that do not have the same elegant properties and therapeutic relevance as CRISPRa/i. With this new state-of-the-art method for precisely controlling gene expression, I will study and manipulate genetic pathways to overcome long-standing challenges in HSC therapies.
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 transplantation
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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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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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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) ERC-2021-STG
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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.
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
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.