Project description
Imaging the activity of enzymes associated with disease will facilitate earlier diagnoses
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive technology that generates high-resolution images of tissues and organs. Since its first use on a human being over 40 years ago, it has become instrumental in the diagnosis and monitoring of disease and injury. Functional MRI, invented in 1991, is based on the same principles but images metabolic activity indirectly via changes in blood flow. Its use has led to remarkable discoveries in biomedical research. Now, PRIMOGAIA is exploiting MRI technology to map and quantify enzyme activity in pathological tissue. Enzymes play critical roles in cellular metabolism and are already valuable biomarkers of pathology in blood tests. Now, their high-resolution spatial localisation in tissues will significantly enhance disease detection and monitoring.
Objective
PrimoGaia opens up a new pathway in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) by initiating the concept of in vivo “enzymatic imaging” for a better understanding of human physiology, early detection and prognosis of diseases, monitoring of therapeutic treatment. The main objective is to overcome current boundaries by making it possible to map and quantify the activity of an enzyme in a pathological tissue. It will be accomplished by building an MRI instrumentation operating at earth field in order to allow the use of 70MHz frequency for saturating the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) transition of Nitroxyl radicals. Enzyme activity is assessed by the use of suitable probes designed to generate the radical upon action of the enzyme of interest. Upon saturation of the radical EPR resonance, polarization is transferred to the protons of the water molecules (Overhauser MRI). The enhancement factor will be high (more than two orders of magnitude). The polarized water signal thus reports on the local concentration of the radicals that reflect the enzymatic activity. 3 lines of activity will be addressed to generate the radicals of interest, namely: i) using a radical-containing molecular precursor that, upon the action of specific enzyme, yields a radical whose absorption frequency is sufficiently different to be selectively irradiated; ii) the use of paramagnetic impurities on nanodiamond surfaces to increase the OMRI effect; iii) the use of radical precursors as “prodrugs” generating a signal only after their activation. The overall methodology will be much less expensive than the current clinical scanners and will allow distribution in developping countries. PrimoGaia brings together an interdisciplinary consortium of research teams from 4 academics: Aix-Marseille University, U Mons, U Torino (reagents), CNRS Bordeaux (EPR unit, sequences, biology); Fraunhofer (Physics) and 2 companies: “Stelar” (magnetic unit) and “Pure Devices” an innovative SME (MRI instrumentation).
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 pathology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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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.1.2. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)
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H2020-EU.1.2.1. - FET Open
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Topic(s)
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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.
RIA - Research and Innovation action
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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-FETOPEN-2018-2020
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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.
75794 PARIS
France
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