Objective
The small intestine forms a barrier that protects us against the outer world. Here commensal bacteria are tolerated while pathogens are effectively fought off. Occasionally, however, pathogenic bacteria colonize the intestine causing different diseases, which constitute a huge burden worldwide. The ability to study interactions of pathogenic bacteria with the intestine will provide new insights into the disease mechanisms, and new therapeutic targets and ways to prevent disease occurrence. Current animal and 2D models based on tumor cell lines both have shortcomings as they react differently to pathogenic bacteria when compared to healthy human tissues.
Primary intestinal epithelial cells can now be cultured as intestinal mini-guts, 3D mini organs. This has partly overcome some of these shortcomings with mouse models and tumor cell lines. These mini-guts are, however, challenged topologically as the intestinal lumen is facing towards the inside of the structures. This makes it difficult to access the luminal surface and study microbial interactions with the epithelium. Furthermore, the static culture conditions do not mimic the in vivo conditions closely enough.
I will use microfluidics and microengineering to develop an intestine-on-a-chip device based on primary human intestinal epithelial cells expanded as mini-guts but assayed on mimics of the natural villi structures found in the small intestine. Additionally, the model will allow the fluidic (sheer stress) and mechanic (peristalsis) microenvironment to be closely controlled in order to generate in vivo-like conditions. This is important to study as e.g. Crohn’s disease, that induces suppressed peristalsis, is associated with intestinal inflammation and bacterial overgrowth.
Altogether, this intestine-on-a-chip device will go beyond state-of-the-art and for the first time give causality to the number of correlative studies reporting on how commensal and pathogenic gut bacteria affect the human physiology.
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 physical sciences classical mechanics fluid mechanics microfluidics
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
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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.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
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.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2016
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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.
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
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.