Objective
Membrane-bound proteins play several important roles in biological processes and viral infections make no exception. Especially for enveloped viruses, where the virion-mediated fusion with the target membrane starts the infection cycle and insights about the viral membrane proteins acting as fusion machineries provide targets for drug design. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV, a member of the enveloped Herpesvirus family) is a widespread highly adapted human pathogen, representing the leading infectious cause of congenital brain defects and a major source of life-threatening complications in transplant recipients and immunodeficient individuals. HCMV is also associated to cancer progression and to the immunosenescence. Licensed drugs for anti-HCMV treatment are characterized by weak activity and high toxicity, and alternative viral targets must be found to develop novel therapeutic strategies. The herpesviral fusion machinery presents an unusal complexity with four up to seven viral proteins involved. A dynamic molecular model of the fusion mechanics is still lacking for HCMV, and a structural description of fusion players is completely absent, thus preventing the rational design of HCMV fusion inhibitors. The present project aims to the structural investigation of HCMV fusion machinery by its in vitro reconstitution with the purified viral players and their crystallisation for structure determination by X-ray diffraction. Molecular biology of the HCMV entry is the current subject of the researcher proponent. The hosting scientist, with a well established espertise in structural studies of membrane proteins and as part of international collaborating networks devoted to foster knowledge and dissemination in the field, will provide the appropriate training environment to develop the researcher interest in the structural virology, a study branch of strong appeal to the european research area for linking basic science and translational research.
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 RNA viruses
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine medicinal chemistry
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
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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.
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-2009-IEF
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
2784-505 OEIRAS
Portugal
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.