Objective
The leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developed nations is vascular disease such as cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease. The process common to these diseases is atherosclerosis, and in particular, the formation of vulnerable plaques those rupture and cause thromboembolic disease1.
Therefore, there exists a need to develop a non-invasive strategy that can detect and assess vulnerable plaques prior to plaque rupture that can provide both high-resolution anatomic and functional information with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) has been identified as a marker of active inflammation in vulnerable plaques.
Elevated plasma MPO concentrations have been found in stroke and myocardial infarction2. Thus, MPO i s evolving as a key molecular and clinical biomarker of vulnerable plaques. The Weissleder group has recently developed a novel approach for imaging peroxidases using low molecular weight paramagnetic enzyme substrates3.
The overall goal of this proposal i s to develop and test novel activatable molecular imaging agents that can sense MPO activity in vivo, and to expose the candidate to state of the art molecular imaging techniques in an integrated multidisciplinary environment.
These "smart" agents harness enzyme-mediated amplification and are potentially much more sensitive than alternative targeted agents. We hypothesize that MPO substrates are converted into highly reactive self-polymerizing intermediates that give oligomers with high relaxivity.
Preliminary data have shown that these novel agents can be used to report enzyme activity by MRI and nuclear medicine. 1. Libby P. Nature 2002;420(6917):868-874. 2. Brennan ML et al. N Engl J Med 2003;349(17):1595-1604. 3. Chen JW et al. Magn Reson Med 2004
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 basic medicine neurology dementia alzheimer
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine radiology nuclear medicine
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine cardiology cardiovascular diseases arteriosclerosis
- engineering and technology medical engineering diagnostic imaging magnetic resonance imaging
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine angiology vascular diseases cerebrovascular diseases
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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.
FP6-2005-MOBILITY-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.
OIF - Marie Curie actions-Outgoing International Fellowships
Coordinator
MADRID
Spain
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.