Objective
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public health problem with a massively increased cardiovascular mortality. Patients with advanced CKD mostly die from sudden cardiac death and recurrent heart failure due to premature cardiac aging with hypertrophy, fibrosis, and capillary rarefaction. I have recently identified the long sought key cardiac myofibroblast progenitor population, an emerging breakthrough that carries the potential to develop novel targeted therapeutics. Genetic ablation of these Gli1+ perivascular progenitors ameliorates fibrosis, cardiac hypertrophy and rescues left-ventricular function. I propose that Gli1+ cells are critically involved in all major pathophysiologic changes in cardiac aging and uremic cardiomyopathy including fibrosis, hypertrophy and capillary rarefaction. I will perform state of the art genetic fate tracing, ablation and in vivo CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing experiments to untangle their complex mechanism of activation and communication with endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes promoting fibrosis, capillary rarefaction, cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. To identify novel druggable targets I will utilize new mouse models that allow comparative transcript and proteasome profiling assays of these critical myofibroblast precusors in homeostasis, aging and premature aging in CKD. Novel assays with immortalized cardiac Gli1+ cells will allow high throughput screens to identify uremia associated factors of cell activation and inhibitory compounds to facilitate the development of novel therapeutics.
This ambitious interdisciplinary project requires the expertise of chemists, physiologists, biomedical researchers and physician scientists to develop novel targeted therapies in cardiac remodeling during aging and CKD. The passion that drives this project results from a simple emerging hypothesis: It is possible to treat heart failure and sudden cardiac death in aging and CKD by targeting perivascular myofibroblast progenitors.
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: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology genetic engineering gene therapy
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine cardiology cardiovascular diseases arteriosclerosis
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine nephrology kidney 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.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
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.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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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.
(opens in new window) ERC-2015-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
52074 Aachen
Germany
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.