Descrizione del progetto
L’organizzazione della cromatina come marcatore per la diagnosi del cancro
La riprogrammazione epigenomica è fondamentale per la progressione del cancro e la formazione di metastasi e favorisce l’eterogeneità del tumore, che ostacola la diagnostica e la terapia mirata. Il progetto PROCHIP, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di studiare l’eterogeneità del cancro a livello di singola cellula sulla base dell’architettura della cromatina e a utilizzare l’alterazione di questa sostanza come marcatore tumorale. L’obiettivo è sviluppare un microscopio a super-risoluzione con capacità di rendimento elevato basato su una rete fluidica 3D miniaturizzata integrata in un chip di vetro. L’analisi delle immagini di un gran numero di campioni consentirà di creare le procedure specifiche di fenotipizzazione necessarie per la medicina personalizzata. In definitiva, dovrebbe consentire di prevedere la risposta e la resistenza a trattamenti mirati e personalizzati.
Obiettivo
Cancer is both a genetic and an epigenetic disease whose outcome is influenced by tumor microenvironment, which represents the major driving force of tumorigenesis causing the functional heterogeneity observed in most cancer types. Defining the 3D-organization of cancer-associated chromatin domains would represent a new frontier to decipher tumor heterogeneity. None of the currently available technologies permit to rapidly analyze thousands of cells and profile their chromatin organization at single cell level, as needed for medical diagnosis and therapeutic guidance.
The goal of the project is to build a high-throughput super-resolution microscope in a microfluidic chip smaller than a coin. With this device we will provide high resolution imaging of hundreds of cells at the diffraction limit and beyond, with minimal photo-toxicity.
Femtosecond laser micromachining allows fabricating with accurate precision optofluidic components as waveguides, microchannels and lenses in a glass substrate. We will integrate them in a single chip, to achieve the required illumination path for advanced fluorescence excitation and sample movement: in the same chip biological samples will be scanned along fluidic channels in a fully automatic fashion.
High-throughput data on chromatin distribution in hundreds of samples will be generated, allowing to decipher the pathogenic function of tumor heterogeneities in tumor progression. These data will be used as benchmarks for predicting differential responsiveness and/or resistance of cancer cells to targeted therapies opening brand new possibilities for medical diagnosis and therapeutic guidance.
The consortium is formed by young scientists from Universities in the field of photonics, computer sciences and epigenetics, and a leading company in microfluidics.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsmicrofluidics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopysuper resolution microscopy
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciences
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsepigenetics
Programma(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-FETOPEN-1-2016-2017
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
00185 Roma
Italia