Human blood vessels infected by meningococcus

Objective

Invasive infection of Nesseria meningitidis can have fatal consequences for the victims, typically healthy young children. The project outlined here aims to enhance the current understanding of N. meningitidis infection by studying the pathogen in a relevant in vivo environment. Study of N. meningitidis has previously been hindered by a lack of appropriate in vivo models. This shortfall is related to the difficulties in emulating N. meningitidis’ infectious niche, the human blood stream. Here we aim to overcome the current limitations through a combination of innovative, multi-disciplinary techniques. The project will use a model in which human skin is grafted onto severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. The human microvessels remain intact after grafting and anastomosis. Advanced intravital imaging techniques will then be used to study, with high spatial and temporal resolution, the progression of N. meningitidis infection in these microvessels. This will provide a unique opportunity to characterize the first stages of N. meningitidis interaction with living human blood vessels. Work will focus on the bacterial aspects of adhesion and invasion as well as physiological responses such as endothelial damage, vascular leakage and the initiation of the immune response. This project will push the boundaries of current N. meningitidis research by giving us a unique insight into the full pathophysiology of in vivo infection in a human vessel. While this project represents a significant advance in the study and understanding of N. meningitidis the results will also be of wide interest to infection biologists, particularly those studying human specific or vascular pathogens. This proposal will provide the fellow with the opportunity to acquire a broad range of skills, both technical and complementary, which are designed to support her career development towards becoming an independent research leader in the field of Infection Biology.

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.

• medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology pathophysiology
• medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

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.

• FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF - Marie-Curie Action: "Intra-European fellowships for career development"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF
See other projects for this call

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.

MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Coordinator