Project description
Decoding the role of the hypothalamus in obesity
The high prevalence of obesity and related comorbidities have spiked great scientific interest to understand how the central nervous system regulates body weight. However, key questions remain about the role of the hypothalamus in energy homeostasis. To address these, the ERC-funded HYPOMETAB project aims to create a high-resolution transcriptional map of the hypothalamus and identify new hypothalamic neurons activated by fasting and feeding. By discovering neural circuits involved in obesity, and assessing lipidomic changes in neurons during obesity researchers will enhance our understanding of metabolism regulation. Collectively, the HYPOMETAB findings have the potential to lead to new obesity treatments.
Objective
Understanding the exact nature of CNS-dependent regulation of body weight has become of utmost societal importance as we are witnessing an ever-increasing number of overweight and obese subjects who exhibit a predisposition for a plethora of obesity-associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and certain types of cancers. However, despite the tremendous advances made in defining the neurocircuitry basis underlying the central control of feeding and metabolism, critical open questions still remain. For example, how can we reliably identify the exact anatomical localization of the recently identified molecularly heterogenous cell types in the hypothalamus? What are yet unknown energy state- or food cue-regulated neuronal cell types and what is their functional contribution to energy homeostasis? Which are yet unidentified neurocircuits critical for the initiation of adverse metabolic effects upon highly palatable food consumption? And what are the lipotoxic species accumulating in energy state-regulated neuronal cell types upon obesity development? The proposed work program will employ state-of-the-art technologies in modern molecular systems neuroscience and mouse genetics and will focus on the following four key aims:
1. Establishment of a high-resolution spatial transcriptional map of the murine hypothalamus
2. Identification, validation, and functional characterization of novel hypothalamic neuronal cell types activated during fasting/feeding transitions and upon sensory food perception
3. Discovery of novel hypothalamic neurocircuits activated during obesity development
4. Assessment of cell-intrinsic lipidomic changes in metabolism regulatory neurons during obesity development
Thus, the proposed work program will not only advance our fundamental understanding of the CNS-dependent regulation of metabolism, but could also open up new channels of drug discovery for tackling obesity and obesity-associated metabolic diseases.
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 neurobiology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine endocrinology diabetes
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition obesity
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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-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.