Project description
Tau protein conformation as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease
Tau proteins are abundant in neurons of the central nervous system and are expressed at very low levels in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, providing the stabilisation of microtubules. Tau pathologies, including Alzheimer's disease, are associated with conformational changes during oligomerisation and assembly resulting in cellular toxicity. The conformationally altered tau could be a promising molecular target for disease-modifying therapy. The EU-funded InterTAU project's main goal is to study the detailed structure of tau proteins and their variants in monomeric, oligomeric and fibrillar states relevant to diseases. The InterTAU international consortium includes a clinical-stage biotech company pursuing the development of anti-tau immunotherapy as well as academic partners with suitable methodologies for the functional and structural characterisation of the tau modification pathway by nuclear magnetic resonance, cryo-electron microscopy and cellular assays.
Objective
There is an enormous and unmet medical need to find efficient methods of prevention, diagnosis and disease- modifying therapies for neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), other tauopathies and Parkinson’s disease (PD). The common molecular denominator of tauopathies are pathological forms of tau protein, and in Parkinson’s disease these are pathological forms of -synuclein. Moreover, -synuclein has a distinct role in pathophysiology of tauopathies, mainly in tau hyperphosphorylation and aggregation, and vice versa. Tau pathology relates to conformational changes during oligomerization and assembly resulting in toxicity. Given their role in the pathogenesis, conformationally altered and assembled tau or -synuclein would be a promising molecular target for disease-modifying therapies. However, the field is still lacking a deeper understanding of associated structural changes in the course of assembly and their inducers on the pathway towards pathological forms of these proteins; therefore, the pharma development is hampered. The main aim of the InterTau project is the detailed structural and biophysical characterization of tau and -synuclein -synuclein protein and their variants in monomeric, oligomeric and fibrillar states relevant for AD, other tauopathies. The InterTAU consortium is composed and academic partners with cutting- edge methodologies suitable for functional and structural characterization of the tau assembly pathway by solution and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), cryo-electron microscopy and cellular assays corroborated by bioinformatics. The mutual transfer of complementary expertise envisaged in the project will facilitate academic outcome and biotechnological development. Specific expertise will be transferred from three institutions in North America and one institution from Argentina. The results of InterTAU will be directly translated into innovation in biotech through the non-academic partner. The platform for sharing knowledge will be a foundation of sustainable cooperation beyond the InterTau project.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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.
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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.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.3. - Stimulating innovation by means of cross-fertilisation of knowledge
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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-RISE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE)
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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-RISE-2019
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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.
601 77 Brno
Czechia
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.