Project description
Insight into circadian rhythms in diabetes
Internal biological clocks, or circadian rhythms, are intrinsic timekeeping mechanisms that regulate the body's physiological processes such as hormone release and metabolism on a roughly 24-hour cycle. These rhythms are driven by a transcription/translation feedback loop involving various genes and proteins that respond to environmental cues such as light and darkness. Emerging evidence indicates that type 2 diabetes is linked to disruptions in circadian rhythms, but the precise mechanisms remain unclear. The ERC-funded CIRCAMET project will shed light on how circadian clocks and cellular energy sensors interact to influence metabolism. The project aims to reveal insights into metabolic rhythmicity and develop new treatment strategies for type 2 diabetes.
Objective
Type 2 diabetes is a global epidemic, with prevalence of >500 million. The current obesogenic environment, favoring high caloric foods and physical inactivity, is a major driver of this epidemic. An evolutionarily conserved mechanism by which environmental factors impact whole body physiology is through internal biological clocks and the control of circadian rhythms. This machinery is a transcription/translation feedback loop that anticipates day/night cycles to optimize organismal physiology. However, the underlying mechanisms regulating metabolic rhythmicity and its role in type 2 diabetes pathogenesis remain enigmatic. Cellular energy sensors relay information about the environment to the circadian clock machinery, but the extent to which this biology can be modified to improve systemic metabolism is unknown. We will uncover mechanisms that underpin the relationship between the circadian clock, energy sensors, and metabolism and their dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. Our overarching hypothesis is that synchronizing energetic stressors to the molecular circadian clock may maximize the health benefits on metabolism. We will elucidate the mechanism by which the timing of energetic stressors acts on peripheral tissues controlling energy homeostasis. We will study temporal dynamics of cell and organ physiology, rather than snapshots in time. We will integrate “omics” analyses with rigorous physiological phenotyping of genetically modified mouse models, and clinical investigations in people with type 2 diabetes to temporally resolve dynamic networks of transcription, protein signaling, and metabolites, which synchronously control metabolism. In doing so, we will come closer to understanding the dynamic changes that occur with metabolic dysfunction. The work has the potential to make a breakthrough in clarifying underlying mechanisms for molecular regulation of metabolic rhythmicity, how this is perturbed in type 2 diabetes, and ultimately, insight into new treatments.
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.
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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 validated by the project's team.
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-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.
171 77 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
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