Project description
Insight into the principles of liver regeneration
The liver has a remarkable capacity to regenerate, but the molecular and cellular mechanisms governing this process remain poorly understood. Importantly, its deregulation leads to conditions such as fibrosis and chronic liver disease. The ERC-funded REG_ORGatSCALE project investigates the principles of liver regeneration using a multidisciplinary approach. Researchers will identify gene regulatory networks driving regeneration and dissect how interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cells control repair and disease. By creating complex multicellular organoids that reconstruct liver tissue architecture in a dish, they hope to transfer these findings to human tissues. Determining which regenerative principles are conserved across species will have broad implications for understanding and treating liver disease.
Objective
Despite recent advances, the principles that regulate liver regeneration and how their deregulation leads to disease remain largely unknown. The main goal of this application is to uncover molecular and cellular principles that govern liver regeneration and disease and exploit this knowledge to develop more complex multicellular organoid systems capable of reconstructing liver tissue in a dish. We will adopt a multi-scale (from molecule to tissue), and multidisciplinary approach, addressing the interplay between cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic mechanisms in damage paradigms that result in repair vs disease.
In Aim 1 we will identify the genomic loci (e.g. Transcription factors, signalling pathways or epigenetic regulators) involved in regeneration and disease, to gain a systems-level understanding of the gene regulatory mechanisms driving liver regeneration and disease.
In Aim 2 we will investigate the biochemical signals mediated through cell-cell interactions between ductal cells and mesenchymal, to gain mechanistic understanding on how epithelial – mesenchymal cellular interactions regulate regeneration and their role in disease, particularly fibrosis.
In Aim 3 we will build complex multicellular organoids to reconstruct the liver lobule cellular interactions and architecture.
An in-depth understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving tissue regeneration and their deregulation in disease holds the potential to uncover new principles of liver biology. The generation of complex multicellular organoids that recapitulate liver cellular interactions and architecture will provide valuable tools for future mechanistic studies aiming at investigating molecular and cellular principles of tissue maintenance, repair and disease. Transferring these to human tissues will facilitate future studies addressing the long-standing question as to which principles of repair are conserved in humans and which are human specific.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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-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.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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.