Objective
Imagine a heart that could no longer suffer from life-threatening rhythm disturbances, and not because of pills or traumatizing electroshocks from an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) device. Instead, this heart has become able to rapidly detect & terminate these malignant arrhythmias fully on its own, after gene transfer. In order to explore this novel concept of biological auto-detection & termination of arrhythmias, I will investigate how forced expression of particular engineered proteins could i) allow cardiac tissue to become a detector of arrhythmias through rapid sensing of acute physiological changes upon their initiation. And how after detection, ii) this cardiac tissue (now as effector), could terminate the arrhythmia by generating a painless electroshock through these proteins.
To this purpose, I will first explore the requirements for such detection & termination by studying arrhythmia initiation and termination in rat models of atrial & ventricular arrhythmias using optical probes and light-gated ion channels. These insights will guide computer-based screening of proteins to identify those properties allowing effective arrhythmia detection & termination. These data will be used for rational engineering of the proteins with the desired properties, followed by their forced expression in cardiac cells and slices to assess anti-arrhythmic potential & safety. Promising proteins will be expressed in whole hearts to study their anti-arrhythmic effects and mechanisms, after which the most effective ones will be studied in awake rats.
This unexplored concept of self-resetting an acutely disturbed physiological state by establishing a biological detector-effector system may yield unique insight into arrhythmia management. Hence, this could provide distinctively innovative therapeutic rationales in which a diseased organ begets its own remedy, e.g. a Biologically-Integrated Cardiac Defibrillator (Bio-ICD).
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 clinical medicine cardiology cardiovascular diseases cardiac arrhythmia
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology genetic engineering gene therapy
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
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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-2016-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.
2333 ZA Leiden
Netherlands
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.