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Understanding the role of parvalbumin interneuron development in schizophrenia using human cerebral organoids

Objective

Neuropsychiatric disorders account for 1/5 of the total disease burden in Europe causing mental anguish and decreased quality of life for those affected, especially for schizophrenia patients. An intriguing theory suggests that altered brain development results in schizophrenia, and the selective cellular defects in parvalbumin (PV) inhibitory interneurons observed in schizophrenic patient brains. However, the role of altered interneuron development in producing these pathophysiological hallmarks of schizophrenia is currently unknown due to a lack of cellular models of human interneuron development. Cerebral organoids are a revolutionary in vitro model of embryonic brain development generating complex brain circuits and recapitulating many aspects of interneuron development. The generation of organoid tissue from hiPSCs allows for the growth of patient-specific brain tissue. Therefore, the current proposal will develop a cerebral organoid schizophrenia model to analyze PV-interneuron development. First, cerebral organoids will be grown from patient-derived hiPSCs genetically modified to include a PV-GFP reporter. Using this reporter, genome-wide PV-specific gene expression will be analyzed to identify deregulated developmental pathways during PV-interneuron development. Second, a phenotypic analysis of PV-interneuron development will determine how PV-interneuron synaptic morphology and/or migration are altered in this cerebral organoid schizophrenia model. These assays are relevant to disease-related pathology, and will include axonal morphological analysis and a novel organoid co-culture migration assay. These results will determine the role of interneuron development in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disease for the first time in human tissue. Understanding the developmental mechanisms of schizophrenia will address a major unmet therapeutic need by inspiring new avenues of innovative therapeutic strategies.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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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.

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2015

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Coordinator

INSTITUT FUER MOLEKULARE BIOTECHNOLOGIE GMBH
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 178 156,80
Address
DR BOHRGASSE 3
1030 WIEN
Austria

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Region
Ostösterreich Wien Wien
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost

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.

€ 178 156,80
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