Objective
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a leading threat to human health, killing 40,000 people a week and causing 8 million new cases of disease every year. Current vaccination and chemotherapy strategies are unsatisfactory making development of novel control strategies an important objective. Rational design of such strategies requires an understanding of the mechanisms by which M.tuberculosis is able to infect individuals and cause disease. Central to the success of M.tuberculosis as a pathogen is an ability to replicate inside the normally destructive phagosomal compartments of macrophages.
TB-MACS proposes to use innovative genetic screens to reveal the genetic and mechanistic basis of this characteristic. Specifically TB-MACS will use microarray based screening of an M.tuberculosis mutant library in two separate selections to identify mutants that are unable to nhibit phagosome acidification and/or unable to inhibit fusion of the phagosome with hydrolytic lysosomes.
Mutants identified in these assays will be isolated and characterised with respect to intracellular trafficking and growth in human macrophages. The in vivo phenotypes of the phagosome mutants will be assessed in murine and guinea pig models of tuberculosis.
To begin to understand the mechanisms encoded by the mutated genes, TB-MACS will make a detailed examination of the proteomes and transcriptomes of selected mutants. TB-MACS brings together three laboratories with complementary skills and facilities in high-throughput genetic screening, flow-cytometry, cell biology, transcriptomics and proteomics - the net result of which is a unique project that is able to provide system-wide answers to important unanswered questions about M.tuberculosis virulence. TB-MACS will contribute to improving human health by defining bacterial products and processes that are essential to infection and which will be useful in the rational development of new drugs and vaccines against tuberculosis.
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 proteomics
- natural sciences biological sciences cell biology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine pneumology tuberculosis
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA transcriptomes
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
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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.
FP6-2005-LIFESCIHEALTH-6
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
GUILDFORD, SURREY
United Kingdom
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.