Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet imATLAS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory, granulomatous disorder with unknown cause highly associated with occupational exposures. It has geographically variable prevalence, with an elevated cost for the patients. It can be detected among metal-exposed workers, firefighters, rock, glass wool or agriculture workers. The most prominent example being rescuers in the World Trade Center in 2001. The need for accurate information about the exposures and causes of sarcoidosis is a limiting factor for clinicians, therefore, supplying them with relevant information will improve the patient's healthcare trajectory. The aim of imATLAS project (IMaging Analysis of Tissues via LAser Spectrometry) is to develop a novel multi-analytical procedure based on LIBS and MALDI-MSI, in combination with standard histology, to identify, localize and relate exogenous and endogenous agents allowing to elucidate possible external causes and biomarkers of sarcoidosis. A data analysis pipeline will be created containing all the bio-statistical steps, graphical representation, exposure and biomarker search approaches, as well as the image fusion results, to provide a global view with elemental and molecular information of the tissue, in addition to the pathologic information provided by histology. The scripts will be publicly accessible, available to other researchers as well as widely adaptable to different imaging techniques and instruments. Furthermore, the results obtained will be released as an easy-to-read file (Quicklook) to present all the useful multimodal analytical information to clinicians and optimize the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Mots clés : libs maldi msi imaging data fusion sarcoidosis occupational disease

Participants :
- Lyon-I université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 196750.88 €
Projet GeEpiAdaptation (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In the last few decades, problems related to the colonization of invasive species have become increasingly important at a global scale. Biological invasions are not only a threat to the environment but also have an important impact in economy. Thus, in order to manage and control invasive species, it is of crucial importance to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that underlie successful invasive processes. In this project, I propose to investigate the genetic and epigenetic changes underlying adaptation in the destructive crop pest Drosophila suzukii. D. suzukii uses a sclerotized ovipositor to pierce the skin of unripe fruits causing dramatic losses to the fruit industry. It has spread from South East Asia to Europe and North America in only ten years, evidencing its invasive success. In the proposed work, I will first validate experimentally the function of candidate genomic regions related with the invasive success of D. suzukii using the state-of-the-art CRISPR/Cas technology. As such I will expand the knowledge of the genetic basis of the invasion process of this species. Besides, technical improvements of the use of CRISPR/Cas can be of future application in programs dedication to the biological prevention of this pest. Second, D. suzukii, as an invasive species, has to face with different oxidative agents when colonizing new environments such as the use of different herbicides or changes in UV exposure. In this work, I will identify for the first time the transgenerational epigenetic modifications induced after oxidative stress in native and invasive natural populations. I will also study whether those epigenetic modifications have any molecular or fitness effects and their possible association with invasive success. Overall, I expect these results to provide new insights into the prediction of the invasive potential in natural populations.

Mots clés : biological invasion, adaptation, oxidative stress, drosophila, crispr cas, transposable elements

Participants :
- Lyon-I université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 206276.88 €
Projet PaTrich (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The development of living organisms involves tightly coordinated regulatory mechanisms that reliably instruct each cell type, tissue, and organ to perform specific functions. This is achieved through an elaborate interplay between pattern formation, cellular growth, and division. Patterning processes occurring as cells grow and divide are present in many biological systems. These include the generation of digits in the vertebrate limb and the specification of trichomes in the leaf epidermis of Arabidopsis, among many other examples. Still, the effect of cellular growth and division on pattern formation remains poorly understood. Because of the difference in time scales, pattern formation, and growth have been typically studied separately; however, in many developmental processes, these two time scales are comparable, and the effect of growth on patterning must be considered explicitly. In this project, I will combine quantitative image analysis, mathematical modelling, and computer simulations to understand the interplay between cellular patterning and growth, by focusing on trichome development. Trichomes constitute an optimal model to test fundamental principles of pattern formation in growing tissues, because there is a good understanding of the underlying gene regulatory networks, and the pattern formation process can be tracked over time. This project will be developed in collaboration with leading experts in the field: the Hülskamp lab, providing the experimental data, and the Fleck lab, providing the theoretical expertise in the regulatory networks underlying trichome patterning. The findings resulting from this project will elucidate general principles of pattern formation in plants and other living organisms during tissue growth.

Mots clés : quantitative plant biology, pattern formation, theoretical biology, image analysis

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet CPRrescue (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Photosynthesis produces all organic material on Earth. In plants, photosynthesis depends on active protein synthesis in chloroplasts to set up photosynthetic complexes. Due to their endosymbiotic origin (from cyanobacteria), chloroplasts contain an independent genome and internal transcription and translation machinery with bacterial type 70S-like ribosomes. Ribosomes may stall due to transcription errors, misprocessed transcripts, translation mistakes, missing tRNA, mutations, or strong mRNA-folding. Ribosome stalling ties up the translation machinery, it is persistent at trace levels but can be exacerbated by environmental stress. Therefore, ribosome rescue mechanisms have evolved in all life domains to resolve stalled ribosomes. Despite its critical role in maintaining photosynthesis and extensive study in eukaryotes and bacteria, little is known about ribosome rescue mechanisms in chloroplasts. In this project, we will characterise chloroplast rescue factors. First, we will examine ArfB, the only known ribosome rescue mechanism ortholog found in chloroplasts by exposing ArfB knockout mutants to translation-stalling inducing stresses, investigating conserved protein motifs, subcellular localisation and overexpression. Additionally, we will study ribosome-stalling effects on chloroplast translation, photosynthesis and metabolism by genetically modifying the chloroplast translation machinery. Finally, we will directly search for novel ribosome rescue factors by identifying proteins physically engaged with stalled chloroplast ribosomes and evaluating their function. Elucidating chloroplast ribosome rescue mechanisms will improve our understanding of the complete photosynthesis support apparatus and inform future biotechnology and crop improvement. Following this fellowship I will leverage the knowledge, methods and transferable skills I acquire to study chloroplast genetics, translation and nuclear-chloroplast interactions in my future lab.

Mots clés : chloroplast, plastid, gene expression, translation, ribosome stalling, ribosome rescue, organelle, photosynthesis

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 189687.36 €
Projet FEM-CYCLE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Every month, over two billion females around the world menstruate. In addition, an estimated 400 million females globally use hormonal contraception ("the pill"). Consequently, from puberty to menopause, the female heart and brain are continuously exposed to cyclical changes in sex hormones, e.g., associated with the menstrual cycle or hormonal contraceptive use, with direct implications for neuro-cardiac health. Both psychological symptoms and specific cardiac arrhythmias show an increased prevalence and burden during specific phases of the menstrual cycle. Given this association, it becomes evident that the menstrual cycle is a key factor in understanding the heart-brain connection and its effect on psychological and cardiac health. This project aims to reveal how two recently identified markers of the heart-brain axis relevant for psycho-cardiac health, i.e., cardiac signaling (denoting neural responses to cardiac signals) and cardiac interoception (denoting conscious awareness of signals arising from the heart), varies with sex, menstrual cycle phase, and hormonal contraceptive use. To this end, we will (1) utilize a novel psychophysiological task to assess cyclical and group changes in heartbeat detection; and (2) perform concurrent electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram recordings to study cyclical fluctuations in the heartbeat evoked potential (HEP). A male reference group will be adopted to provide a basis for comparative analyses. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach and integrating knowledge from cardiac psychophysiology, biological psychology and neuroendocrinology, to study the specific role of cycling female sex hormones on the heart-brain axis, this research aims to provide critical insights into the well-known sex discrepancies in mental and cardiovascular health, as well as the exacerbation of psychological and cardiac symptoms during specific menstrual cycle phases.

Mots clés : cardiac interoception, female sex hormones

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 202125.12 €
Projet ElectricFins (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The existence of endogenous electric fields in tissues is a fundamental feature for successful morphogenesis and repair processes, conserved across species. In a regeneration setting, wound electric currents can last hours to days, even after the wound is closed. Altering such currents by perturbing its underlying ion flows has been shown to affect organ growth via an increase in proliferative rates. Therefore, electric field directly takes part in regeneration. However, the relationship between ion flows, membrane potential, and cell proliferation for driving the regeneration response is not well understood. This project aims to uncover the dynamic electrical environmental changes that cells are exposed to upon organ damage, and how these can be coupled with biochemical signalling towards starting proliferation. By using the regenerating zebrafish larval fin as an experimental model, I will establish quantitative and interdisciplinary approaches that bridges injury sensing and regeneration dynamics across length and time scales. By establishing fast in vivo imaging and electrophysiology assays, I will measure the electrical signals in the fin tissue upon injury, providing an in-depth kinetic analysis of the electric spatiotemporal changes occurring within seconds of injury. In parallel, I will establish an analytic electrohydraulics model that connects cell-based ionic flows to tissue-scale electric field and currents, being continuously interwoven with experimental data and the idea of flexoelectricity. Then, I will generate and engineer optogenetic tools to spatiotemporally perturb ionic flows and electrochemical coupling strengths, directly testing the hypothesis of ion flow-derived electric currents as voltage-gated triggers for cell proliferation. This combined strategy will provide a first-of-the-kind quantitative and mechanistic study in the emerging field of bioelectricity.

Mots clés : regeneration zebrafish bioelectricity proliferation ion flows growth control

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet GREENER (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The continuously increasing environmental concerns together with a potential energy crisis make more necessary than ever to explore alternative and sustainable energy sources that can replace fossil fuels. Ammonia is gaining momentum as a promising alternative renewable energy carrier and storage intermediate for global use in the future. Nowadays, ammonia is mainly produced via the Haber-Bosch process, which is high energy-demanding and source of greenhouses gases emissions. The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (E-NRR) is a promising opportunity and at the same time a challenging alternative route for green ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions. Although to date most E-NRR research studies focus on catalyst design, the electrolyte is vital since it essentially is responsible for the selectivity and efficiency of the process and more research is needed. The proposal “Electrolyte optimization for enhancing GREEN ammonia production from nitrogen ElectroReduction” (GREENER) fills this gap by focusing on novel electrolytes development and E-NRR optimization for green ammonia synthesis, boosting the transition toward zero-carbon. With the support of my supervisor (Prof Bella) and his cutting-edge European Research Council (ERC) Green Electrochemistry Lab at the Politecnico di Torino I will be trained in materials, methods and data analysis in electrochemistry and this fellowship will boost my career in science.

Mots clés : nitrogen reduction, electrocatalysis, ammonia, electrolyte

Participants :
- École polytechnique de Turin (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 172750.08 €
Projet gp78-MPQC hub (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is responsible for the degradation of approximately 80% of proteins, enabling precise control of protein quality and maintaining protein homeostasis within the cell. Over the past four decades, a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory mechanisms governing the UPS, particularly concerning various cytosolic and nuclear proteins has been developed. However, there remains significant knowledge gaps regarding how membrane proteins, which account for one-third of human proteins and serve as targets for 70% of FDA-approved drugs, are regulated by the UPS. The specificity of the UPS is dictated by E3 ligases, which bind to substrates and execute ubiquitination. gp78 is the master regulatory ubiquitin E3 ligase for membrane proteins, enabling rigorous control of membrane protein quality and participating in various pathways. gp78 not only works with the biogenesis factors to form a detection center responsible for targeting misfolded proteins but also cooperates with the E2 enzyme and several quality control factors to promote recognition and ubiquitination of a wide range of important substrates, leading to their degradation via the proteasome. Yet remaining questions abound: How does gp78 detect misfolded proteins? What are gp78's substrates and their biological functions? What structural mechanisms underlie the recognition and ubiquitination of membrane substrates by gp78? This proposal aims to combine state-of-the-art approaches in structural biology and biochemistry, cell biology, and chemical biology to systematically dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms by which the gp78 membrane protein quality control hub, mediates substrate detection, recognition, and ubiquitination. The project will advance our understanding of how cells perform the difficult task of membrane protein quality control and pave the way for pharmacological studies targeting membrane protein degradation.

Mots clés : ubiquitin, e3 ligase, membrane protein quality control, ups, emc

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 202125.12 €
Projet CENStruK (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Ensuring accurate segregation of the genetic material is an essential life process. In eukaryotes, such as humans and yeasts, regions of DNA known as centromeres nucleate the assembly of the megadalton kinetochore complex, which connects to and regulates spindle-microtubules that drive chromosome segregation. While significant progress has been made in the past decade in understanding the structural architecture of the inner kinetochore Ctf19 complex (CCAN in humans), a fundamental gap in knowledge remains concerning how the inner kinetochore is assembled upon native centromeric DNA. This gap is particularly important, as it addresses critical mechanistic steps involved in maintaining genome integrity across cell divisions, evolution, and disease. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a fundamental model system for studying centromeres and kinetochores, as its kinetochores, the smallest known, represent the organizational module that, through repeated units, form larger kinetochores like those found in humans. In CENStruK, I will combine my background and expertise in yeast genetics and cell biology with the host lab’s expertise in mechanistic biochemistry, its large collection of proteins involved chromosome segregation, and its advanced electron microscopy facilities to fill this gap. CENStruK is divided into two complementary structural approaches. First, by harnessing required protein chaperones, I will reconstitute a key step in yeast’s inner kinetochore assembly that is required for recognition of its native centromere sequence. Second, I will deploy the ‘CentiCEN’ strain, which houses over 100 homogenized centromeres. This strain will be used in parallel for biophysical and structural studies of the endogenous CEN-kinetochore complex using cryo-EM and cryo-ET. My studies will not only shed light on a fundamental unknown in chromosome biology but will also inform future work in diverse eukaryotic species.

Mots clés : centromere, kinetochore, cell division, saccharomyces, cas12

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 217965.12 €
Projet SYNERGY (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Wound care constitutes a growing clinical and economic burden, with the global market predicted to exceed €28.6B annually by the end of 2024. This represents a 71% increase in wound prevalence and a 48% increase in management cost in the last decade. Despite advances in our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in wound healing, the rapid growth of these markets alone underlines the need for new therapeutic approaches to address the growing incidence of chronic and non-healing wounds and the ongoing development of scar tissue and fibrosis -which increase the risk of severe complications, significantly impact patient quality of life, and extend the burden on healthcare systems. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) from mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and MSC-like cells, have already been proven to significantly enhance wound healing and inhibit scar formation. Despite their potential, the inherent complexity, source-based variability of these cell-based therapies, as well as a lack of conclusive information regarding their mechanisms of action, has significantly impeded their clinical translation. This proposal outlines the characterization of natural EVs from both novel and established MSC sources; the identification of key biological and biophysical factors underpinning their potential to support wound healing and reduce fibrosis; and the application of this knowledge to design, optimize, and validate bio-inspired fully synthetic extracellular vesicles (fsEVs) as a novel treatment to improve clinical wound healing outcomes.

Mots clés : synthetic biology, bio inspired, mesenchymal stem stromal cells, mscs, extracellular vesicles, wound healing, tissue regeneration, 

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 202125.12 €