Project description
Kinematic analysis of movements in zebrafish supports neuromuscular drug development
Animal models of diseases are integral to development of drugs to treat them. The zebrafish has emerged as an excellent model system for drug screening. Companies are increasingly taking advantage of its well-known genome and nervous system to research drugs for motor system and neurological disorders. However, current commercially available analysis methods cannot capture the fast kinematics associated with sensory and motor responses. The European Research Council-funded ZebraZoom project will evaluate the market potential of its high-throughput, high-resolution platform, enabling quantification and categorisation of behavioural movements of zebrafish larvae/juveniles in response to drug administration and genetic manipulations. The resulting market plan will target both research labs and pharmaceutical companies.
Objective
With millions of European citizens suffering from chronic pain and neurodegenerative disease, there is an urgent need for efficient solutions for drug screening in animal models. Discovery of new drugs and functions of genes involved in these human diseases relies on efficient ways to screen effects on animal behavior and at low cost. Zebrafish emerged in the last decade as an essential model for drug discovery as it is: i) a low cost genetic model organism whose genome shares 70% homology with human’s. ii) well-suited to fast and high throughput investigation of genes and molecules. iii) an ideal platform to study genes and pathways of relevance to disease in humans. Consequently, several companies are exploiting zebrafish research to devise new drugs for motor and neurological disorders. However, the current state of the art in commercial analysis of zebrafish behavior is limited to the analysis of crude parameters. In these conditions, the fast kinematics indicative of specific types of sensory and motor defects cannot be resolved. A fine kinematic analysis efficiently performed over large population of animals is crucial to reliably quantify defects in strength, posture or speed in mutant animals with and without with drug treatment. This accuracy is critical for concluding on the effects of drugs involved in motor functions, posture or pain. During her ERC starting grant OptoLoco, Dr. Wyart has developed ZebraZoom to resolve kinematic data with the necessary degree of resolution required for interpretation of motor defects. This approach enables the quantitative measurement of defects in speed, posture, and movement strength. In the ZebraZoom PoC, we will evaluate the market potential for a high-throughput method to quantify and categorise behavioural movements of zebrafish larvae/juveniles in response to drug administration and genetic manipulations and elaborate a marketing plan and business plan targeting for pharmaceutical companies and research labs.
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 basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- social sciences economics and business business and management business models
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology ichthyology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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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.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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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-POC - Proof of Concept 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-2018-PoC
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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.
75013 Paris
France
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