Project description
Ileal metabolic responses to advance precision nutrition
The ileum is vital for gut-brain metabolic signalling and contains many enteroendocrine cells (EECs) and a unique microbiota. Invasive sampling methods have received limited research attention, leading to gaps in our understanding of how food structure affects ileal metabolism. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PREILEAL project will study how plant-based dietary components are digested and fermented in the ileum, impacting hormone secretion from EECs. It will develop models, analyse chyme and use a synthetic microbial consortium to generate metabolomic profiles for testing glucose transport and hormone release. The goal is to enhance precision nutrition and reduce reliance on animal models for cardiometabolic disease research.
Objective
The ileum is a pivotal yet under-characterized regulator of gut–brain metabolic signaling, rich in enteroendocrine cells (EECs) and a distinct facultative anaerobic microbiota. Its study has been constrained by the invasiveness of sampling, leaving major gaps in how food structure controls ileal metabolism. PREILEAL hypothesizes that plant-derived dietary assemblies undergo digestion and microbial fermentation in the ileum to yield metabolites that stimulate EEC hormone secretion directly or via microbiota-mediated pathways. To test this, we will build a unified causal pipeline: mechanistically defined food structure models of starch with varying digestion rates, biosynthesized plant cell wall analogues, and diverse polyphenol profiles (e.g. sourced from apple pomace, agricultural waste) will undergo standardized in vitro digestion (INFOGEST); the resulting chyme will be fermented with a novel synthetic ileal microbial consortium (SIMIC) to generate time-resolved metabolomic profiles (NMR, MS); these outputs will be applied to advanced transepithelial enterocyte–EEC co-cultures to quantify glucose transport, barrier integrity, and hormone release. Statistically identified drivers will be validated in vivo in mice, aligning ileal metabolic kinetics with systemic hormone and gut–brain axis responses. PREILEAL will deliver the first open-access, assay-ready framework for ileal nutrient sensing, including a metabolite atlas, validated EEC activation signatures, and a standardized causal model that repositions the ileum as a tractable target for precision nutrition. By pioneering a predictive in vitro screening platform linking dietary structures to host response, this project will reduce reliance on animal models and advance precision nutrition strategies for mitigating cardiometabolic disease through an integrative methodology spanning food chemistry, ileal microbiology, and translational physiology.
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 nutrition
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology bioprocessing technologies fermentation
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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)
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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
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-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European 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-2025-PF
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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.
47002 VALLADOLID
Spain
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.