Objective
Many biological systems at cellular level consist of a high number of elements interacting in complex patterns. These systems often exhibit emergent behaviours that cannot be detected by reductionist approaches. Systems biology is the interdisciplinary methodology aiming at understanding the dynamics of life by determining how the elements of a biological system interact to form functional networks. This research proposal intends to make to advance the state-of-the-art in systems biology by making systematic use of formal models, and more precisely of the Petri nets formalism.
The research will focus on the network of interactions involved in the protein synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a species of yeast. The overall goal of the proposal is to optimize the recombinant protein synthesis in this organism. This goal is to be achieved by means of three primary objectives: 1) to formally model the recombinant protein synthesis mechanism; 2) to analyse the obtained model by using formal methods; 3) to control the system behaviour to maximize the recombinant protein synthesis.
The Petri net to be designed will model the different events taking place in the protein synthesis mechanism: transcription, translation, modification, transportation, degradation and secretion. The analysis of the Petri net will consider structural and dynamical properties, and special attention will be paid to the computation of throughput bounds and bottleneck identification. As bottlenecks constrain the throughput of the whole system, any control action aiming at maximizing the protein synthesis will be performed on them.
Overall, this proposal intends to improve our understanding of the cellular mechanism regulating protein synthesis by providing mathematical modelling and analysis tools. This understanding will eventually enable us to control and optimize the synthesis of recombinant proteins, which are broadly used for vaccines, diagnostic tools and therapeutic purposes.
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 basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
- natural sciences mathematics applied mathematics mathematical model
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
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-2013-IEF
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
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
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.