Project description
Why bones grow brittle with age
Why is osteoporosis more common in humans than in apes? Its evolutionary origins are not understood. According to one explanation, evolutionary modifications that once provided us with an advantage, such as lighter skeletons, are the cause of our susceptibility to age-related bone loss. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the STAND UP project will compare how humans, chimps, and gorillas lose bone as they age. It investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying the changes in bone structure with ageing by combining skeletal analysis and epigenetic profiling. STAND UP seeks to understand the molecular and evolutionary causes of osteoporosis, which could change the way we treat this common condition.
Objective
Age-related bone loss in humans is widely documented and linked to the process of skeletal gracilization, evolved over the last 10 kyrs. One explanation for the human susceptibility to bone loss during ageing is that osteoporosis is an unintended consequence of otherwise advantageous evolutionary adaptations. However, the deeper evolutionary roots and potential epigenetic changes that underlie the biological mechanism of age-related bone loss in humans compared to other hominids are still not understood. Osteoporosis is indeed a global health issue affecting millions of people worldwide with greater prevalence in post-menopausal women. Despite the clinical and biosocial implications of the disease that particularly impact public health issues related to women’s lives, an understanding of the evolutionary roots of osteoporosis is conspicuously lacking. STAND UP aims to fill this gap by identifying and quantifying patterns of age-related bone loss across the skeleton in humans and a comparative sample of our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, and identifying its epigenetic correlates across taxa. This project will take a novel, comparative and interdisciplinary approach by combining (1) a holistic investigation of the skeletal changes in internal and external bone morphology across the skeleton in unique skeletal samples of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas that each come with critical, individualized demographic and behaviour data, and (2) a comparative molecular analysis of epigenetic bio-markers that underpin patterns of skeletal aging. Ultimately, STAND UP will combine functional morphology of the skeleton, molecular biology and evolutionary anthropology, together with expertise in clinical medicine, to clarify how and why bone structure changes through adult age, particularly in females, in hominids. This project offers an understanding of genotypic-phenotypic underpinnings of osteoporosis in human evolution with far-reaching biological implications.
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 public health
- natural sciences biological sciences biological morphology functional morphology
- social sciences sociology anthropology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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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.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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.