Objective
Cell adhesion is considered to play an important role in many biological functions such as the regulation of organ and tissue development during embryogenesis, and the maintenance of normal tissue structure in the adult organism.
The specificity of cell-adhesion is controlled by genetic expression of receptors at the cell surface, which bind to ligand molecules of target cells or tissue by lock-and-key principles. The cadherins, membrane-spanning glycoproteins, initiate intercellular junctions by homophilic ligation of their extracellular domains in the presence of calcium.
The stability of these adhesive junctions is ensured by the cytoskeletal elements that link indirectly the intracellular cadherin domain with the actin cytoskeleton. The molecular mechanism involved in cadherin-mediated contact formation and in the initiation of signalling cascades upon cadherin binding remains poorly understood.
The goal of this research work at the interface of physics, biology and chemistry is the study of cell-cell adhesion phenomena.
Four different directions will be followed to entangle the chemo-mechanical coupling in adhesion phenomena, namely by
- designing nano-patterned surfaces which mimic adhesion functions for one of the two cell adhesion partner,
- to apply nanostructured surfaces as 'nanorulers' to measure essential length scale in expected adhesion protein clusters,
- to measure adhesion forces for elucidating biological adhesion mechanism by physical means, and
- designing microfluidic devices which allow to quantify responses of cells adhering to well-defined surface patterns due to spatially addressed external chemical cues to cell membranes.
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 chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkaline earth metals
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences cell biology
- natural sciences biological sciences developmental biology
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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-5
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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.
Coordinator
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.