Objective
Horizontal transmissible cancers can be passed from one individual to another through malignant cancer cell lines. Such cancers induce leukemia-like cancer in marine bivalves, termed bivalve transmissible neoplasia (BTN). While most BTN lineages are confined to a single host species, some are able to infect multiple species, as demonstrated by my previous work. Host immunity is a known central gatekeeper against BTN, but additional factors have a role in cancer progression, including the host microbiome and the surrounding environment. The interplay of these three factors in driving BTN remains unexplored in the marine ecosystem.
I hypothesize that host immunity, the bivalve microbiome, and environmental stressors such as salinity and temperature together define the ecological niche that determines whether BTN cells can persist within common cockles and cross into closely related bivalve species. Through Bivalve2bivalve, I will employ integrative multi-omics approaches to disentangle how these three drivers shape the persistence and transmission potential of BTN. Specifically, this project will:
1) Test whether host immune responses restrict or permit BTN persistence, and identify the cellular and molecular pathways underlying this interaction.
2) Determine if variation in the cockle-associated microbiome influences susceptibility or resistance to BTN, and identify microbial taxa and functions linked to outcomes.
3) Evaluate how environmental stressors such as salinity and temperature interact with immunity and microbiome constituents to modulate BTN persistence and cross-species transmission.
Bivalve2bivalve will establish a conceptual framework for understanding transmissible cancers and deepen our knowledge of how hosts, their microbiomes, and the environment shape disease ecology.
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 basic medicine immunology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
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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)
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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
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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 - 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-2026-STG
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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.
80539 MUNCHEN
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.