Projektbeschreibung
Die molekulare Landschaft der Gedächtnisbildung
Das Gedächtnis ist für viele Aspekte von Verhalten unerlässlich und in den letzten Jahren hat es bereits immense Fortschritte beim Verständnis der ihm zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen gegeben. Küken des Haushuhns eignen sich gut als experimentelles Modell zur Untersuchung der Prägung – ein Prozess in den frühen Lebensphasen, der mit einer hohen Lerneffizienz und stabiler Erinnerungsbildung assoziiert wird. Im EU-finanzierten Projekt CHARM-Vis werden nun die molekularen Mechanismen untersucht, die an der visuellen Prägung des Hauskükens beteiligt sind. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt dabei auf der Chromatinlandschaft im Vorderhirn der Küken, da in dieser Region Informationen über visuelle Prägereize gespeichert werden. Das wissenschaftliche Team nutzt dazu Sequenzierung der nächsten Generation sowie Bioinformatik.
Ziel
The molecular mechanisms underlying memory formation in vertebrates are not well understood, despite their paramount importance to neuroscience. CHARM-Vis aims at investigating changes in the chromatin landscape and transcriptional activity in a prototypical model system for memory formation: visual imprinting in domestic chicks.
The expected outcome of the project is remarkable. The use of single-cell, next-generation sequencing technologies will allow to study the system of interest at an unprecedented level of resolution, potentially leading to relevant new discoveries. Novel bioinformatics software pipelines will be developed for analyzing the data, and made available as free, open source software. All the data generated in the project will be made public as well, in order to benefit future research.
A highly interdisciplinary consortium of world leading institutions will be involved in the project, including experts in chick visual imprinting from Ilia State University, Georgia, bioinformatics specialists from Navarrabiomed, Spain, and biotechnology experts from Karolinska Institute, Sweden. The combined expertise and synergy of the international consortium, along with the long-lasting scientific experience of the applicant, will ensure the successful fulfillment of the proposal.
All the involved parties will greatly benefit from participating into the project. The applicant will deepen his expertise in bioinformatics and neuroscience, reinforcing his position as independent researcher. A mutual exchange of knowledge will take place among the involved institutions, whose know-hows are highly complementary. The project will also have beneficial, long-lasting effects after its end. We expect novel scientific questions to spring from the results of the project, stimulating the applicant as well as other researchers in performing further research, expanding the current knowledge and consolidating their careers.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
Programm/Programme
Thema/Themen
Aufforderung zur Vorschlagseinreichung
Andere Projekte für diesen Aufruf anzeigenUnterauftrag
H2020-WF-01-2018
Finanzierungsplan
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFKoordinator
0162 Tbilisi
Georgien