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Predictive Epigenetics: Fusing Theory and Experiment

Projektbeschreibung

Verbindung theoretischer und experimenteller Epigenetik

Epigenetische Veränderungen der DNS und des Chromatins wie beispielsweise Methylierung, Acetylierung und Ubiquitinierung von Histonen ermöglichen eine den Genaktivitätszustand beeinflussende Genregulierung. Epigenetische Proteine verändern tausende Gene, darunter Entwicklungsregler, Tumorsuppressoren und Signalmoleküle. Der Forschungsbereich der Epigenetik wird aufgrund der enormen Informationsmenge durch Big Data von dieser dominiert und überlastet. Das Projekt PEP-NET wird über die Marie-Skłodowska-Curie-Maßnahmen finanziert und zielt auf einen Paradigmenwechsel bezüglich der Verarbeitung generierter Daten ab. Dafür soll die theoretische mit der experimentellen Epigenetik verbunden werden. Über das Forschungsnetzwerk sollen Nachwuchsforschende darin geschult werden, quantitative Experimente mit theoretischen Prognosemodellen zu verbinden und dieses Wissen auf das Verständnis epigenetischer Funktionen anzuwenden.

Ziel

Epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation are profoundly implicated in human health and disease. However, we are still far from a complete mechanistic understanding of many epigenetic processes. Without an understanding of mechanisms we cannot fully understand function in healthy cells, in disease states, and the effects and side effects of therapeutic interventions. This severely limits the development of healthcare strategies. Research in epigenetics has typically been based on experiments and not on theory. Although this has delivered large amounts of information, information alone is not sufficient. Further progress urgently needs a paradigm shift in the way in which we study epigenetics, namely: epigenetics needs mathematics. Mathematical models are essential to capture and understand the complex, dynamic and stochastic nature of epigenetic regulation. Models are immensely powerful because they identify unifying concepts and enable predictions of system properties. Modelling epigenetic processes not only holds the key to a deep mechanistic understanding, but also ultimately, to drug response predictions, patient-specific diagnoses and new therapies. One of the greatest challenges to uniting biology and mathematics is the barrier between disciplines, because education in each field has traditionally been mono-disciplinary. The PEP-NET ITN will overcome these barriers by uniting 16 outstanding European academic laboratories and companies who have pioneered the successful combination of theoretical and experimental epigenetics. PEP-NET will train a new cohort of 15 European researchers to combine quantitative experiments with predictive theoretical models, and to apply this knowledge to basic and applied questions of epigenetic function.

Schlüsselbegriffe

Koordinator

HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITAET ZU BERLIN
Netto-EU-Beitrag
€ 758 365,20
Adresse
UNTER DEN LINDEN 6
10117 Berlin
Deutschland

Auf der Karte ansehen

Region
Berlin Berlin Berlin
Aktivitätstyp
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Gesamtkosten
€ 758 365,20

Beteiligte (10)

Partner (5)