Objective
Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, development of new methodologies to early and accurate diagnosis of cancer, should reduce these death rates. Hypoxia is associated with low oxygen levels in the cells, which leads to an increase in tumor aggressiveness, and to resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Therefore, there is a compelling need to develop a biomarker for detection and imaging of hypoxic cells. Despite on-going efforts to identify and/or track hypoxia, there is still no routinely used clinical biomarker or a radiotracer of hypoxia.
In the framework of the ERC-Stg CuHypMech project, we succeeded in developing a suitable, highly selective and sensitive radiotracer based on 64Cu(II) for PET-CT/PET-MRI imaging to report on the hypoxic conditions of cells. This was achieved by monitoring the cellular copper transfer mechanism in human breast cancer cells, specifically by identifying the various copper-binding sites in those proteins involved and identifying factors critical for proper copper transfer. Based on this molecular-level insight into cellular pathways involving copper, a lead compound was designed and characterized and termed 64CuCysPhe.
Our lead 64CuCysPhe compound showed promising in vitro and in vivo results in breast cancer models. In this PoC proposal, we would like to expand our in vivo experiments by testing our compound in additional cancers, such as cervical and prostate cancers. The main objective of this proposal is to complete all pre-clinic experiments needed before entering the clinic. This will require us to show good identification of the tumor in various tumors of varied sizes from different cancers. We will also have to correlate imaging intensity with hypoxia levels. Finally, we will have to find ways to reduce preparation costs of our compound and seek subsequent investments (either non-dilutive through EIC Transition, or dilutive through business angels or venture capital funds).
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.
- social sciences sociology demography mortality
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology breast cancer
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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)
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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-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept 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-2022-POC1
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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.
52900 Ramat Gan
Israel
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.