Project description
Involving dendritic cells in the immunotherapy approach
Activation of the immune system to tackle cancer is a promising strategy that has, however, demonstrated limited efficacy in clinical practice. To improve immunotherapy outcome, scientists of the EU-funded MIRIC project propose to engage myeloid cells such as dendritic cells which have a key role in antigen-specific T cell responses and cancer prognosis. MIRIC will focus on T-cell immunoglobulin mucin-3 (TIM-3), an immune checkpoint responsible for T-cell exhaustion and inhibition of antitumour immunity. Using omics technologies and a systems immunology approach, the project will decipher the outcome of TIM-3 modulation in cancer, hoping to shed light on the factors that govern immune responses during malignancy.
Objective
With more than 3.7 million new cases and 1.9 million deaths each year, cancer represents the second most important cause of death and morbidity in Europe with the estimated direct health cost increasing from €79 to €86 billion during 2005-2014. The emerging field of immune-checkpoint therapy (ICT) has demonstrated unprecedented responses in patients with several types of metastatic tumors that were previously resistant to available treatment options. However only ~13% of patients respond to the immunotherapy. I believe the primary reason for this is that most therapies are T cell directed and to achieve durable responses one must also engage the innate arm of the immune system. Myeloid cells constitute a major proportion of tumor infiltrating cells in human cancers and are essential for the induction of antigen specific T cell responses-cells which mediate anti-tumor immunity. Tim-3 is a check-point molecule that is not only expressed on T cells but also constitutively expressed on Dendritic cells, namely DC1, which are particularly adept at initiating protective anti-tumour immunity. A number of studies have highlighted the crucial role of DCs including analyses of The Cancer Genome Atlas showing that patient survival for many cancers correlates positively with the gene expression signature for DCs. Given the current activity in developing Tim-3 blocking agents for clinical translation, it is imperative that we have a full understanding of how modulation of Tim-3 affects the innate arm of the immune system. The aim of this proposal is to determine the cell-intrinsic and non cell-intrinsic effects of Tim-3 modulation in cancer. Furthermore we will analyze the cellular and transcriptional changes associated with tumour infiltrating DC after ICT with anti-Tim3. This proposal is highly interdisciplinary implementing single-cell 'omics' strategies and systems immunology approaches to further unravel the players and rules governing immune responses during malignancy.
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 clinical medicine oncology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology immunotherapy
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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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.1.3.2. - 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-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.
4051 Basel
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.