Objective
Treponema pallidum (TP), the causative agent of syphilis, along with other pathogenic spirochetes, forms a distinct evolutionary clade with unique features including periplasmic endo-flagella, minimal genomes, and outer membranes lacking lipopolysaccharides. These features enable TP to navigate viscous environments, breach biological barriers, and evade host immune responses, leading to severe diseases affecting over 7 million people globally each year. While vaccine development is vital to controlling syphilis, there is currently little consensus on effective vaccine targets. Clinically relevant strains and infection models are needed to deepen our understanding of TP's biology, without which vaccine progress will be challenging. This is urgent since syphilis infects 1 million pregnant women and causes 200,000 stillbirths annually, making it the second leading cause of stillbirths after malaria.
Research on TP is hindered by its dependence on host cells for growth, complicating in vitro cultivation and leaving critical questions unanswered. ASCEND will address these gaps by unraveling TP's distinctive biology and host interactions, using multi-omics approaches and cutting-edge techniques like spatial transcriptomics. Specifically, I will identify TP's host dependencies and optimize axenic (cell-free) culture conditions to isolate and grow TP directly from clinical samples, enabling the use of clinically relevant strains for experimentation. Furthermore, I will identify TP adhesins and characterize their roles in attachment and cell cycle, positioning them as prime vaccine candidates to block infection at its earliest stage. Finally, skin organoids will be employed, for the first time, to investigate host-pathogen interactions in 3D under conditions that better mimic human disease than monolayer culture. Ultimately, ASCEND will seek to identify effective vaccine candidates and improve understanding of TP biology to combat syphilis
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.
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases malaria
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
You need to log in or register to use this function
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.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
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
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
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-2025-STG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
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.
WC1E 7HT London
United Kingdom
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.