Descrizione del progetto
Approfondimento sul ruolo delle modifiche dell’mRNA
Le prove emergenti indicano che, come la cromatina, l’mRNA porta alcune modifiche covalenti. Sebbene il loro ruolo sia ancora in fase di studio, sembra che queste modifiche determinino i livelli, la traducibilità e la compartimentazione subcellulare degli mRNA target con profonde conseguenze per i processi cellulari. Il progetto ROPES, finanziato dall’UE, si concentrerà sull’epitrascrittomica come anello mancante tra la variabilità genomica e il fenotipo cellulare. I risultati contribuiranno a delineare i meccanismi della malattia, a identificare nuovi biomarcatori e a sviluppare terapie innovative. Attraverso la formazione di ricercatori in fase iniziale di carriera, ROPES si propone di stabilire un quadro europeo in grado di accelerare gli sforzi di ricerca e le applicazioni industriali nel promettente campo dell’epitrascrittomica.
Obiettivo
Epitranscriptomics is the study of RNA modifications and their role in the regulation of gene expression. As happened for DNA, extensive covalent modification of RNA was found already in the 70s. Nevertheless, a spectacular expansion of epitranscriptomics occurred mostly in the past seven years, when an extensive layer of base decorations was discovered in mRNAs and shown to undergo cell modulation. These modifications produce programmable fluctuations in mRNA levels, translatability and subcellular compartmentalization, affecting primary cell programs such as cell differentiation and response to stress. We thus anticipate that RNA modifications will prove as important as chromatin dynamics in shaping cell phenotypes. This emerging field is hence crucial for both basic science and application to human disease. Epitranscriptomic would provide the missing link between genomic variability and cellular phenotypes, contributing to explaining the cause of specific diseases and developing novel therapies. Epitranscriptomic research is dominated by the US and China, with the EU lagging behind. We thus need to rapidly create a European framework to integrate and accelerate research efforts and industrial applications in this emerging field. To address this major European need, ROPES will train a group of Early Stage Researchers who will become the seed of the European epitranscriptome science of this decade. They will join a recently established network of academic research groups and biotech companies devoted to advancing our understanding of RNA modifications while promoting the development of new biomarkers and therapies. Focusing on RNA editing and m6A methylation, ROPES will investigate disease mechanisms and new therapies in the fields of cancer, stem cell diseases and innate immunity, while developing innovative epitranscriptomics methods. The ROPES European Training Network is the first European effort to tackle the epitranscriptome for the advancement of medicine.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-ITN - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN)Coordinatore
38122 Trento
Italia