Objective
Cardiovascular disease and diabetes constitute the major disease burden in the western world with growing morbidity. Exercise is known to ameliorate many of the key processes in the pathogenesis of these diseases, but the underlying mechanism is not clear. Especially little is known about how exercise affects non-muscle tissues such as the heart, fat and liver. Knowledge of such pathways could lead to new therapeutic possibilities for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
I have recently discovered a new hormone, named Irisin. Irisin is regulated by PGC1α, secreted from muscle to plasma after exercise and promotes the formation of brown fat via an unknown receptor. Furthermore, irisin is 100% conserved between mice and humans at the amino acid level (89% identity between zebfrafish and human). Nanomolar levels of this protein increase uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in cultures of primary white fat cells by 50 fold or more, resulting in very large increases in uncoupled respiration. Perhaps more remarkable, in vivo delivery of irisin stimulates a robust increase in UCP1, increased energy expenditure and reversal of type II diabetes in high fat fed mice. It is thus likely that irisin is responsible for at least some of the beneficial effects of exercise on the browning of adipose tissues and increases in energy expenditure. The therapeutic potential of irisin is obvious; it is a conserved endogenous polypeptide, induced with exercise and with powerful anti-diabetic properties. Irisin could, for example, be administered exogenously, or the secretion of irisin could be enhanced. These approaches, however, require additional studies, and my aim in this project is to advance the knowledge around irisin for future therapeutic testing.
Given success of the ERC grant application, I will move from Harvard/Boston 2012 and start my lab at the department of Cell- and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institute, Sweden. As seen in my list of publication, Im well prepared for this task
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 biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine endocrinology diabetes
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine cardiology cardiovascular diseases
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry amines
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology
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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.
ERC-2012-StG_20111109
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.
Host institution
171 77 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
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.