Project description
The dynamics of cancer in space and time
Cancer has traditionally been regarded as an accumulation of mutations, but these alone do not explain tumour progression. Equally important factors are the ‘where’ (which tissue) and the ‘when’ (during lifespan) mutations appear. This is what the ERC-funded DynAML project set out to portray in mice. It will investigate how ageing and tissue affect malignity and the progression of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cancers. Through a series of functional omics experiments, researchers will pinpoint specific genes, and characterise their involvement in cancer progression in vivo. By describing the spatio-temporal dynamics of tumour development, DynAML has the promising potential to enhance our overall understanding of cancer.
Objective
Advances in sequencing-based phylogenetic studies applied to cancer evolution have led to the observation that the linear accumulation of oncogenic alterations over individuals lifespan does not match the late life pattern of cancer incidence. It has thus become clear that beyond the sequential accumulation of oncogenic driver mutations, additional factors also support cancer outgrowth. The temporal and spatial dynamics of tumor evolution represent two of the most critical mutation-independent variables to consider. Hence, we hypothesized that the dual features of aging and spatial dissemination promote critical fitness gains that are at least as significant as driver mutations in cancer. The goal of this proposal is to investigate the spatial and temporal determinants of tumor progression and to dissect the contributions of these processes to cancer pathogenicity.
Due to its quite unique occurrence pattern and propagation characteristics, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is the prototypical disease model that we have elected to template such spatiotemporal-dependent features of disease development. To study these features, we engineered two mouse models of leukemia dissemination and aging using serially-transplantable MLL-AF9-driven leukemic blasts. Using these two models, we propose to i) combine metabolomic- and epigenomic-based profiling to portray the spatiotemporal dynamics of leukemia growth; ii) deploy single-cell transcriptomics coupled with lineage tracing experiments to reveal the pre-deterministic attributes of such dynamics; and iii) leverage innovative multimodal in vivo shRNA and CRISPRa screening approaches to pinpoint and functionally characterize the critical age- and dissemination-related effector genes involved in leukemic progression. The comprehensive analysis of their unknown function will potentially define new therapeutic routes in AML, and, given the holistic nature of the spatiotemporal characteristics studied, in other cancers as well.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology leukemia
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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)
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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-2022-COG
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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.
75654 PARIS
France
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.