Project description
Developing the first Human Lung Cell Atlas platform
The goal of the EU-funded discovAIR project is to produce the first draft of the Human Lung Cell Atlas platform as a part of the Human Cell Atlas infrastructure. The development of novel therapeutic interventions is hampered by a limited understanding of lung cellular complexity: it is therefore vital to acquire detailed knowledge of lung cells, their interactions, and their organisation into macroscopic tissue architecture, in health and disease. To identify the molecular phenotypes of cells in disease, discovAIR will include lung tissues from patients in the molecular profiling and spatial mapping effort, and will chart cell state transitions from health to disease in the lung cell perturbation map. Project results will be shared with the scientific community and pharmaceutical industry through an open-access data visualisation and exploration platform.
Objective
Lung diseases are a leading cause of death, with increasing incidence and lack of curative interventions. The development of novel therapeutic interventions is hampered by our incomplete knowledge of the cellular complexity of the lung, as evidenced by the recent identification of the CFTR-expressing ionocyte. To overcome this limitation, we urgently need to acquire detailed knowledge of the cells of the lung, their fixed and variable molecular features, their interactions and their organization into macroscopic tissue architecture in health and disease. To achieve this, discovAIR aims to establish the first draft of the Human Lung Cell Atlas. Herein, discovAIR will combine multimodal molecular profiling of lung tissue cells with a detailed spatial mapping of the identified cell states, 3D reconstruction of lung tissue architecture, and in-depth molecular phenotyping of local cellular neighbourhoods. We will develop novel computational approaches to integrate the multilevel data of the spatial and the cellular branches of discovAIR. To identify the molecular phenotypes of cells in disease, discovAIR will include lung tissue from patients with asthma, COPD and IPF in the molecular profiling and spatial mapping effort. Moreover, discovAIR will chart cell state transitions from health to disease in a novel experimental approach, the lung cell perturbation map. The discovAIR results will be shared with the basic, translational and clinical scientific community as well as diagnostic and pharmaceutical industry through and open-access data visualization and exploration platform. For sustainability, this platform will be embedded in the Human Cell Atlas infrastructure. The discovAIR results will facilitate progress in regenerative and precision medicine and identify novel candidates for precision diagnostics and curative interventions in lung disease, thereby contributing to healthy ageing and active living in Europe.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
9713 GZ Groningen
Netherlands
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Participants (17)
Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
9713 GZ Groningen
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CB10 1SA SAFFRON WALDEN
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10691 Stockholm
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85764 Neuherberg
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53229 Bonn
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
75794 Paris
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
75654 Paris
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53113 Bonn
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Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
53127 Bonn
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6726 Szeged
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69117 Heidelberg
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100 44 Stockholm
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Participation ended
171 65 Solna
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
CB2 1TN Cambridge
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06003 Nice
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1003 Lausanne
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S10 2PX Sheffield
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