Objective
Iron is an essential nutrient, but becomes toxic when present in excess. Iron deficiency leads to anaemia and iron overload is associated with tissue degeneration and organ failure. Body iron indices also affect the course of infectious diseases, such as chronic hepatitis C. Balanced iron homeostasis is critical for health. At the cellular level, iron metabolism is mainly regulated post-transcriptionally by mRNA/protein interactions. Two iron regulatory proteins, IRP1 and IRP2 bind to iron responsive elements (IREs) in the untranslated regions of the mRNAs encoding the transferrin receptor and ferritin, which are involved in iron uptake and storage, respectively, and thereby regulate their expression.
The regulation of systemic iron metabolism is beginning to being understood, following the cloning and molecular characterization of iron transporting molecules and of the hemochromatosis gene HFE, which is mutated in hereditary hemochromatosis, the most common disease of iron overload. A breakthrough in the field was the recent identification of the antimicrobial peptide hepcidin as a humoral factor, which controls dietary iron absorption and iron recycling via the reticuloendothelial system.
The proposed project builds on previous work in the lab and deals with different regulatory aspects of iron metabolism. The specific aims are as follows:
I. To study the mechanisms for iron sensing by IRP1 and IRP2, which are regulated by distinct post-translational pathways.
II. To elucidate the molecular basis of hepcidin function, which, despite of a plethora of genetic data, remains still unclear.
III. To identify molecular links between iron metabolism and the life cycle of hepatitis C virus (HCV).
The implementation of the proposal requires state-of-the art techniques in the broad areas of molecular biology, biochemistry and molecular genetics, which are already employed and successfully utilized in the applicants laboratory at McGill University.
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
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology molecular genetics
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases RNA viruses hepatitis C
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
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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.
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.
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.
FP6-2002-MOBILITY-12
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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.
IRG - Marie Curie actions-International re-integration grants
Coordinator
HERAKLION
Greece
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.