Project description
Insight into the effects of dengue virus infection
Dengue is a neglected tropical disease caused by the dengue virus (DENV), and it affects millions of people in the world. It is a mosquito-borne disease with neuroimmunological manifestations in its severe form. To address the lack of basic and translational research on dengue, the EU-funded DENGUE project aims to develop a human model of the disease utilising patient autologous cells induced to generate neuronal cells. The model will enable scientists to study the neuroimmune interface in DENV infection, image cell to cell interactions and evaluate different modulators of virus pathogenicity. The identification of key players implicated in the DENV-mediated perturbation of neuroimmune homeostasis will fuel the development of new therapies.
Objective
Dengue is a mosquito-borne illness for which approximately half of the world’s population is at risk, with close to 100 million symptomatic cases per year. Classified as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) that disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable populations, basic and translational research regarding the cellular consequences of Dengue virus (DENV) infection is vastly under-represented. Even fewer studies examine the neuro-immunological manifestations of severe dengue which embodies the most fatal and dangerous form of disease. However, as the central nervous system (CNS) is inaccessible in humans with the rare exceptions of post-mortem brain tissue, the lack of appropriate human models and platforms to test large-scale functional perturbations have hindered efforts to conduct human studies in the context of DENV infection. Here, we propose to develop an autologous human model that represents the DENV neuro-immune interface by employing a two-step reprogramming method that differentiates donor blood to derive donor-matched induced neuronal cells (iNs) via induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).We will then establish a DENV infection paradigm of both neural and immune lineage cells, and systematically screen for potential neuro- and immune-modulators of DENV pathogenicity and cell-cell interactions. High-content image-based profiling and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) will be implemented to untangle the contributions of different cell types and learn heterogeneous cell-type-specific or donor-specific phenotypes. Finally, for promising candidate modulators that either affect cellular DENV pathogenicity, those that alter the baseline neuro-immune interactions, or those in which the drug response differs among donors - we will conduct matched transcriptomic profiling to uncover functional gene networks that regulate features of DENV-mediated perturbation of neuro-immune homeostasis.
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 health sciences infectious diseases viral diseases RNA viruses
- medical and health sciences health sciences tropical medicine
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies stem cells
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence computational intelligence
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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-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.
8092 Zuerich
Switzerland
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.