Objective
PhotoStem aims to develop a cutting-edge approach to overcome the main cause of patient relapse in cancer treatment. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small population of cells within a tumour characterised by their ability to self-renew and to induce tumourigenesis. Current chemotherapy acts only on the bulk of the tumour mass, leaving CSCs unaffected; this is thought to be the main cause of resistance to cancer treatment. Despite growing knowledge on the existence of CSCs, similarities to normal stem cells challenges the design of selective inhibitors and modulators. Relapse to cancer treatment is an enormous challenge and there is an urge to identify novel therapeutic approaches to target CSCs.
Photopharmacology is an emerging field that seeks to precisely control the activity of bioactive molecules with light, allowing for activation or repression of biological function at a specific space and time. It constitutes a truly disruptive innovation that can represent a new direction in drug therapy. We herein propose to use novel photoactivable molecules to target CSCs with precise spatiotemporal control using light. Initially, we will develop novel photoswitchable versions of known inhibitors, and will study their effect in leukemia stem cells both in vitro and in zebrafish models. We will then expand our learnings to target CSCs of solid tumours.
The achievement of such an ambitious objective will only be possible via a network of multidisciplinary researchers. The researcher will combine her expertise in drug discovery and leukemia with state-of-the-art photopharmacology techniques from leaders in the field at the host institution. Training-through-research at the partner organisations that include well-recognised experts in haematological malignancies, myeloid zebrafish models and CSC xenograft models will enable the expansion to in vivo applications. The proposed work will provide both new directions in targeted cancer therapy and powerful tools for cell biology.
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.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- natural sciences biological sciences cell biology
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies stem cells
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology leukemia
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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.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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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-2018
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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.
28006 Madrid
Spain
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.