Description du projet
Le paysage moléculaire de la formation de la mémoire
La mémoire est au cœur de nombreux aspects du comportement, et des progrès considérables ont été réalisés au fil des ans dans la compréhension des mécanismes sous-jacents. Le poussin domestique constitue un bon modèle expérimental pour étudier l’empreinte, un processus aux premiers stades de la vie associé à une efficacité d’apprentissage élevée et à une solide rétention de la mémoire. Le projet CHARM-Vis, financé par l’UE, étudiera les mécanismes moléculaires impliqués dans l’empreinte visuelle chez le poussin domestique. L’accent sera mis sur le paysage de la chromatine dans le cerveau antérieur des poussins, la région où les informations sur un stimulus d’empreinte visuelle sont stockées. À cette fin, les chercheurs utiliseront le séquençage et la bio-informatique de nouvelle génération.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
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Régime de financement
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinateur
0162 Tbilisi
Géorgie