Project description
A closer look at cell type regulation for health and disease
The composition of different cell types determines how tissues function, evolve, and respond to disease. Yet, scientists still struggle to understand how these compositions can be controlled to influence organ function. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms could lead to breakthroughs in treating conditions like chronic airway diseases and cancers, which claim millions of lives annually. With this in mind, the ERC-funded MAGIX project seeks to unravel how cell type compositions are regulated during development and disease. Using mucociliary epithelia from Xenopus and mice as models, the project will investigate key genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, providing crucial insights into tissue adaptation and potential therapeutic applications.
Objective
Cell type compositions determine tissue morphologies and functions, are adapted during evolution, and their changes cause diseases. However, we do not understand how cell type compositions can be controlled and modified to predictively achieve different organ functions. The goal of the MAGIX project is to understand the developmental mechanisms controlling cell type compositions, and to mechanistically link variations of cell type compositions to physiological properties of tissues in development and disease. We will use mucociliary epithelia as they provide an optimal system to study how adaptations of cell type compositions are regulated and how they determine organ functions. They build on a conserved gene-regulatory network to generate epithelia with different functions across species and organs derived from all three germ layers. We hypothesize that key epigenetic, patterning and remodeling mechanisms are used in a modified fashion to generate different functions and morphologies in different organs. In this project, we will establish two new vertebrate mucociliary model systems in the Xenopus foregut and the mouse esophagus, multi-modal resources, and integratively analyze data across models. We will then test a series of hypotheses experimentally to gain insights into the mechanisms regulating mucociliary cell type compositions, their adaptations, and to model mucociliary patterning in silico. Lastly, the developmental functions of foregut mucociliary epithelia in Xenopus and mice will be investigated to reveal potential contributions to gut microbiome establishment, thereby uncovering a new role for mucociliary epithelia in vertebrate development. Using a range of state-of-the-art techniques, the MAGIX project will study mucociliary adaptations to resolve fundamental questions in cell and developmental biology, and to provide translational insights into human diseases that kill >8 Mio. people per year (chronic airway diseases, cancers, motile ciliopathies).
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-2024-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.
79106 Freiburg
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.