Objective
One third of cancer death are due to cachexia, a metabolic syndrome characterized by fat and lean mass loss. The loss of muscle mass and strength is considered the most important clinical feature of cancer cachexia, and a key predictor of poor outcomes. We and others have shown that prevention of muscle wasting but not fat loss is beneficial for life span in tumour bearing animals. Despite several attempts to develop therapeutic approaches, cachexia is still orphan of any specific drug/treatment mainly because our understanding of the insights of this syndrome are largely unknown. We have started to approach the complexity of cancer cachexia by collecting blood plasma samples, muscle and fat biopsies from cancer patients and age-matched gender-balanced controls. By combining data from mouse models with human biopsies we have recently made exciting observations related to motoneurons involvement in cachexia and an unexpected neurotrophic action of Bone and Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) that inspired this application. By using interdisciplinary approaches and developing cutting edge technologies we have designed an experimental plan that will:1) define how gene networks and cellular landscapes in muscles are modified by tumour growth and dissect their relevance in cachexia onset and survival; 2) establish how much gene/chromatin signatures and cellular/cytokines landscapes overlap or diverge between humans and murine models, males and females cancer patients, colon and pancreatic cancer types; 3) develop patients derived organoids-on-chip to generate an in vitro pathology model that recapitulates the human cachexia complexity, 4) develop a personalized multi-target RNA-based therapeutic approach that will preserve muscle mass, force generation and survival. These ambitious objectives will pave the way for an innovative therapy that will match with the concept of precision and personalized medicine and could be broadly applied to many other muscle wasting 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 biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
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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-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.
35122 Padova
Italy
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.