Project description
Rejuvenating and ageing blood factors as therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's disease
Ageing is the most critical risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The EU-funded HeBe project aims to discover blood factors with a rejuvenating or ageing effect on the human brain for the development of therapeutic targets for AD. The hypothesis is that higher levels of rejuvenating blood factors decrease the rate of neurodegeneration, whereas higher levels of ageing blood factors increase it. The study will define extreme biological age phenotypes in women and men based on the difference between biological and chronological age. It will use proteomics and metabolomics to identify blood factors that differ between these extreme phenotypes and develop assays to measure these factors in longitudinal cohorts of cognitively unimpaired and preclinical AD individuals.
Objective
One of the most exciting findings in neuroscience has been the discovery of peripheral blood factors with rejuvenating or ageing effects on the mouse brain. These factors were discovered by parabiosis experiments in which the blood circulation of young and old animals is fused. The findings imply that the properties of young blood can rejuvenate the older brain. Ageing is the most important risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), but there have been only limited attempts to develop therapies targeting the ageing process. Also, it is not known whether humans have similar blood factors that could be therapeutic targets in AD.
The overall aim of the HeBe project is to discover blood factors with a rejuvenating or ageing effect on the human brain that can thus become therapeutic targets for AD and other age-related brain diseases. For ethical reasons, parabiosis experiments are not possible in humans. HeBe will circumvent this problem using a highly original approach in which I will define extreme biological age phenotypes in women and men based on the difference between biological and chronological age. I will use advanced proteomics and metabolomics to identify blood factors that differ between these extreme phenotypes, and then develop a targeted assay toolkit to measure these factors in large longitudinal cohorts of cognitively unimpaired and preclinical AD individuals.
The main hypothesis of HeBe is that higher levels of rejuvenating blood factors decrease the rate of neurodegeneration, while higher levels of ageing blood factors increase the rate of neurodegeneration. If this hypothesis is confirmed, I will provide a new therapeutic target for AD. By the end of HeBe, I will also design a proof-of-concept clinical trial to assess whether life-style or pharmacological interventions modify blood levels of rejuvenating or ageing factors. Thus, the HeBe project is the first and a key step in the translational continuum towards interventions in clinical practice.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins proteomics
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology dementia alzheimer
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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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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
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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-STG - Starting Grant
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-STG
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08005 Barcelona
Spain
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