Objective
Neuropsychiatric disorders such as dementia and depression are among the leading causes of disability and exert a dramatic burden on Europe’s healthcare systems. In order to devise more effective therapies it is essential to elucidate their genetic basis. However, to date genetic association studies have only identified a small fraction of the genetic determinants, possibly due to neglect of some important genomic variations, especially DNA repeat expansions. Expanded DNA repeats above a certain threshold are associated with various neurological disorders, the most common of which are polyglutamine diseases caused by exonic triplet (cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG)) repeat expansions leading to a range of cognitive and psychiatric abnormalities. Emerging findings indicate that even CAG repeat length variations in the normal range in polyglutamine disease-associated genes (PDAGs) can affect mental health and cognition. Nevertheless, virtually nothing is known about the biological mechanisms through which these genetic variations affect brain structure and function. Therefore, the key objective of this proposal is to evaluate the effects of CAG repeat polymorphisms in PDAGs on brain structure and function, both in healthy controls and carriers of the mutation for Huntington disease (HD), the most common polyglutamine disease. To this end I will: 1) Systematically assess the association between these genetic polymorphisms and mental health, cognition and brain morphometric and functional MRI imaging in a large cohort of well-characterized control subjects and HD mutation carriers, and 2) Perform pathway analysis using gene expression data already available from these participants in order to elucidate the underlying molecular pathways. This proposal is unique as it translates novel insights into the pathophysiology of polyglutamine diseases to those of more common, complex disorders, thereby accelerating development of effective therapies for all patient groups.
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 genetics DNA
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology pathophysiology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology neurodegenerative diseases dementia
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
You need to log in or register to use this function
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.
-
H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
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.
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
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.
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.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2015
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
WC1E 6BT London
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.