Project description
Endothelial cells for osteoporosis treatment
In healthy ageing and osteoporosis, mineralised bone loss results from an imbalance between bone formation and resorption. Additionally, there is limited knowledge about the impact of sex-specific regulators on normal and disrupted bone balance. Recent research has identified a new type of blood vessel in bone (type R) that plays a role in bone turnover. The ERC-funded PROTECT project will study the role of endothelial cells and type R capillaries in maintaining bone health and preventing bone loss. It will create new mouse models, examine molecular regulators, and investigate sex-specific and age-related factors affecting bone homeostasis. The results will lay the groundwork for future treatments involving endothelial cells.
Objective
During healthy aging but also in osteoporosis, a disease that affects more than 22% of European women beyond the age of 50, loss of mineralized bone is caused by a disbalance between bone formation and resorption. While blood vessels are abundant in the skeletal system and play essential roles, they are currently not considered in the context of anti-osteoporosis therapy. Moreover, apart from the role of sex hormones, we know too little about the impact of sex-specific regulators in physiological and disturbed bone homeostasis. Our recent work has provided fundamental insights into the organization of the bone vasculature in mouse, the heterogeneity and functional specialization of endothelial cells (ECs), and the changes during aging. Recent and unpublished research from my team has utilized single cell RNA sequencing in combination with advanced immunostaining and imaging to identify a novel EC subpopulation (termed type R for remodeling). Type R vessels are post-arterial capillaries found at sites of homeostatic and therapeutic bone turnover, mainly trabecular bone, and their activation in young mice can enhance osteogenesis. In aging mice type R vessel clusters emerge inside cortical bone at sites of bone loss. PROTECT will systemically characterize the function of ECs and, in particular, type R capillaries in healthy homeostasis and during bone loss. This will involve the generation of new mouse lines for intersectional genetics and the characterization of critical molecular regulators. We will also characterize sex-specific and age-related factors controlling bone homeostasis and employ approaches to translate our findings into the human system. Preclinical experiments in mice will establish whether ECs and type R capillaries are involved in the response to therapies aiming at osteoblasts or osteoclasts. PROTECT will generate the conceptual basis for future approaches utilizing endothelial cells for the prevention of bone loss and anti-osteoporotic therapy.
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 RNA
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
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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
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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-2023-ADG
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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.