Project description DEENESFRITPL Untangling macromolecule organisation in cells Understanding how cells function and interact at a physical level requires insight into their mechanical properties, structural organisation, and responses to external forces and stimuli. These are investigated by the multidisciplinary field of cell physics by combining principles from physics, biology and engineering. Funded by the European Research Council, the THREEDCELLPHYSICS project is interested in DNA-protein networks within cells. Researchers will study the spatial organisation of DNA, chromosomes and proteins in the crowded environment of both healthy and diseased cells. They will also use computational simulations and experimental data to faithfully simulate these interactions in cells Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Understanding the fundamental mechanisms behind the functioning of cells and their interior has long been a biology-only enterprise. This view has radically changed in the last decade or so, culminating in the invention of a whole new field, named 'cell physics', which uses the tools of physics to gain a more quantitative and deeper understanding of the inner working of a cell. The aim of my research fits broadly in this new field, although the scale of the computational studies which I plan are thus far unprecedented. I will focus my programme on the spatial organisation of DNA and chromosomes, proteins, and DNA-protein networks within the intracellular environment. I will therefore aim to answer questions such as: How is DNA organised in living cells, such as bacteria and eukaryotic nuclei? What is the role of proteins in DNA and chromosome folding in vivo? How does genome organisation differ in healthy and sick nuclei? How do proteins and RNA move around and self-organise into supramolecular structures in the crowded intracellular environment? I propose to work on the simulation and theoretical side of these problems, while maintaining very close collaborations with key experimental players in these fields who will provide me with a large number of experimental data (obtained by more sophisticated version of the original well-known 'chromosome conformation capture' technique) to maximise the impact and output of the modelling work. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsDNAnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsRNAnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticschromosomes Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-CoG-2014 - ERC Consolidator Grant Call for proposal ERC-2014-CoG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant Host institution THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH Net EU contribution € 1 499 236,00 Address OLD COLLEGE, SOUTH BRIDGE EH8 9YL Edinburgh United Kingdom See on map Region Scotland Eastern Scotland Edinburgh Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 499 236,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 1 499 236,00 Address OLD COLLEGE, SOUTH BRIDGE EH8 9YL Edinburgh See on map Region Scotland Eastern Scotland Edinburgh Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 499 236,00
