Project description
DNA-based liquid biopsy for liver pathology diagnosis
Accurate identification of the causes of liver disorders is crucial for effective treatment. However, differentiating between autoimmune hepatitis, drug-induced liver damage, and other non-viral liver diseases remains challenging. Diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis typically involves a combination of blood tests for specific autoantibodies, liver function tests, and often liver biopsy to confirm the presence of inflammation and autoimmune activity. The key objective of the ERC-funded AIHLiquidBiopsy project is to replace invasive liver biopsies with a minimally invasive liquid biopsy. The proposed technology will analyse epigenetic marks in cell-free DNA from blood samples. This will allow the mapping of genome-wide gene activity associated with liver damage and the differential diagnosis of liver pathologies.
Objective
The identification of the causative agent and mechanism of liver disorders is essential for effective treatment. The diagnostic challenge is differentiating autoimmune hepatitis, drug induced liver damage, and other non-viral causes of liver disease. Current diagnostic guidelines require in many cases liver biopsy followed by monitoring response to treatment before conclusive diagnosis. Our objective is to replace liver biopsy in the parenchymal liver disease settings with a minimally invasive liquid biopsy from a blood sample.
We have developed cfChIP-seq, a liquid biopsy that enables detection of gene activity in the cells contributing to cell-free DNA. Cell-free DNA is mostly chromatin fragments DNA-protein complexes. These carry post-translational epigenetic marks that are closely connected to gene regulation and activity in the cell of origin. By capturing fragments marked with active transcription and sequencing their DNA, we map genome-wide activity of genes in the cells contributing to circulating cell-free DNA.
Liver damage results in increased contribution of liver cells to circulating cell-free DNA. Moreover, our preliminary results show that we can detect differences in the cfChIP-seq signal from different liver pathologies and that these differences involve genes associated with the relevant liver damage mechanisms.
We plan to develop methods for differential diagnosis of autoimmune liver diseases such as autoimmune hepatitis and other parenchymal liver diseases. This will be supplemented by a multi-center cohort of patients to train and validate these tools. Together these will establish a pre-clinical evaluation of the capabilities of the assay in differential diagnosis and enable development of a product that would change the way we diagnose these diseases. This product will improve the quality of diagnosis, reduce the number of liver biopsies, risk to patients and costs, and provide more detailed follow-up during treatment.
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 DNA
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine hepatology
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Programme(s)
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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)
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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.
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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-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-POC
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91904 Jerusalem
Israel
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