Project description
How mitochondria shape immunity
Inside every cell, mitochondria act as tiny power plants, but they also produce reactive metabolites that can influence how the immune system behaves. These mitochondria-derived reactive metabolites (mt-REMs) help cells adapt to stress and disease. Scientists are studying their precise effects in real time. In this context, the ERC-funded mt-REMs project aims to develop technology that maps how individual mt-REMs act within specific cells at exact moments. Using advanced chemical biology and model organisms such as zebrafish and mice, the project will identify the first-responder proteins that react to these molecules. This breakthrough approach could reveal how metabolism shapes immunity. It aims to pave the way for new targeted therapies.
Objective
Mitochondria-derived reactive metabolites (mt-REMs) drive context-specific immunomodulatory behaviors during metabolic reprogramming. Yet, no method can interrogate the cause-and-effects of individual mt-REMs with locale specificity and temporal resolution. Mapping mt-REM-directed signaling changes with spatiotemporal resolution would thus be transformational. I will develop a spatiotemporally-resolved in-vivo mt-REM-responsivity-mapping technology. This cross-disciplinary innovation will enable localized build-up of an individual mt-REM in one specific cell type with precise temporal, dosage, and chemotype control. For the first time, I will map cell-type-specific “first responders”, proteins attuned to react with the specific mt-REM in an otherwise unperturbed system, in a manner that alters signaling across distinct disease contexts. My ability to assimilate chemical biology, organic/medicinal chemistry, & biotechnology enables me to achieve these goals leveraging functional mechanistic models principally zebrafish, mice, and cultured primary cells. The resulting new knowledge is biomedically important: my previous work on lipid-derived metabolites supports that we can leverage this information to design drug candidates. This research project promises transformative biomedical advances and technological breakthroughs with enormous potential for unveiling reactive metabolite-guided biological mechanisms influencing cell function & disease outcomes.
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)
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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
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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-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.
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
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