Objective
Backgound: Interleukin (IL)-12 induced T helper (Th) 1 polarization is critical for adequate cell-medated immune responses against intracellular pathogens such as M. tuberculosis. To gain insights into Th1 type immunity I performed a genome wide analysis for IL-12 target genes. The results unequivocally identified proprotein convertases (PC) furin as a novel IL-12/Stat4 target gene. Furin has been previously linked to the pathogenesis of several diseases including metastatic cancers, cystic fibrosis and infectious diseases. Consequently, furin inhibitors have been proposed as possible therapies for such diseases. I have explored furin’s physiological role in T cells using a T cell-specific furin knockout. The striking finding is that conditional deletion of furin in T cells results in loss of peripheral tolerance and systemic autoimmune disease. Objective: To evaluate the role of furin and as a regulator of immune responses; specific aims:1. Furin’s molecular mechanisms of action in T cells, 2. The role for furin in diseases of broken peripheral tolerance, 3. Furin as a regulator of innate immunity. Significance: Studying furin in T cells will help to explain the pathogenesis impaired peripheral tolerance observed in diseases like IBD and celiac disease, and understand the regulation of Th1 type immune responses that are critical in combating intracellular pathogens, such as M. tuberculosis. On the other hand, furin plays also an important role in the activation of pathogens (e.g. HIVgp160, B. Athracii toxins) and upregulates metastatic activity of cancers and pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis. This research will tackle the cell-type specific function and regulation of proportein convertase activity by identifying novel furin targets and regulators of its activity. This will enable creating more specific, cell-type specific means for furin regulation; this will be instrumental in avoiding unwarranted side effects of general furin inhibitors in clinic.
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
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology autoimmune diseases
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine gastroenterology
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
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.
FP7-PEOPLE-IRG-2008
See other projects for this call
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.
Coordinator
33014 TAMPERE
Finland
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.