Objective
During my postdoc at a marine biotechnology lab in Newcastle I experienced that bacteria growing in shakeflasks in the lab and bacteria in natural biofilms behave very differently. For instance, the global gene expression and production of secreted proteins is very different between these modes of growth. I would like to bring the knowledge and skills acquired there to a higher level by studying the interaction between a clinically relevant biofilm and host organism. To achieve this, I will study the dynamics of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms in interaction with the human innate immune system in the laboratory of Prof. van Strijp in Utrecht. S. aureus is a Gram-positive coccus that causes life threatening diseases and has become resistant against most antibiotics (MRSA). Our innate immune system is crucial in fighting S. aureus infections. Strikingly, S. aureus evades this defence line by production of small secreted proteins that repress this immune system. In many infections, S. aureus’ growth mode is generally considered to be biofilm-like. Using a novel, biofilm centred approach I will study the interaction between the innate immune system and S. aureus. By comparing planktonic growth with several biofilm stages using proteomic analysis, I will screen for novel immune evasion molecules that are expressed specifically during the biofilm mode of growth of S. aureus. The identified proteins will be studied further using deletion mutants in S. aureus and the proteins will be overexpressed in heterologous hosts, such as E. coli or B. subtilis. Using the mutant strains and the overproduced proteins, the specific interactions of these novel proteins with the innate immune system will be examined, both in vitro and in vivo. The identified molecules will be highly interesting drug targets against a problematic microbial pathogen
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 microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antibiotics
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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-2010-RG
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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
3584 CX Utrecht
Netherlands
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.