Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : A CACTUS (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : University of Udine — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149875.0 €

The problem: Cancer metastases are responsible for 90% of cancer-associated deaths. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) that enter the blood stream on their way to potential metastatic sites are of obvious interest to evaluate correctly patient treatment and therefore influence outcome. CTCs have been identified in bladder, gastric, prostate, lung, breast and colon cancer. The only FDA approved CTCs detection system is Veridex’ CellSearch, which detects only epithelial cancer cells using antibody labelling. Recent evidence showed that non-epithelial cancer cells, which are not detected by CellSearch, are of critical importance in cancer progression. The idea: Our CTC detection method is based, instead of on antibody labelling, on metabolic features of cancer cells, thus providing potential for detecting both epithelial and mesenchymal cancer cells. Cancer cells induce environmental changes; e.g. in aerobic conditions most cancer cells display a high rate of glycolysis with lactate production in the cytosol, known as the Warburg effect. By separating cells into micro-droplets of pico-liter volume using micro-fluidic water-in-oil emulsions and by characterising the microenvironment surrounding them, CTCs are detected by probing for environmental changes using pH sensitive dyes or enzymatic lactate assays. Our inexpensive diagnostic method provides a way to count and isolate CTCs without any labelling while maintaining cells alive and intact for further studies. The project: “A CACTUS” is meant to assess the feasibility of commercialising the developed method for counting and sorting CTCs and develop a proper commercialisation strategy. The final goal of this project is to develop a proposition package consisting of technical proof of concept, the business proposition and strategy and an IP portfolio and strategy. This information will be presented in an attractive business plan that will be proposed to potential investors.

Mots-clés : metastasis,circulating tumour cells,cancer,tumour,metabolic,single cell analysis,picodroplet,diagnosis,prognosis,in vitro devices,epithelial,high throughput,label free,enumeration
Projet ERC : BCELLMECHANICS (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 703510.36 €

The production of antibodies against pathogens is an effective mechanism of protection against a wide range of infections. However, some pathogens evade antibody responses by rapidly changing their composition. Designing vaccines that elicit antibody responses against invariant parts of the pathogen is a rational strategy to combat existing and emerging pathogens. Production of antibodies is initiated by binding of B cell receptors (BCRs) to foreign antigens presented on the surfaces of antigen presenting cells. This binding induces B cell signalling and internalisation of the antigens for presentation to helper T cells. Although it is known that T cell help controls B cell expansion and differentiation into antibody-secreting and memory B cells, how the strength of antigen binding to the BCR regulates antigen internalisation remains poorly understood. As a result, the response and the affinity maturation of individual B cell clones are difficult to predict, posing a problem for the design of next-generation vaccines. My aim is to develop an understanding of the cellular mechanisms that underlie critical B cell activation steps. My laboratory has recently described that B cells use mechanical forces to extract antigens from antigen presenting cells. We hypothesise that application of mechanical forces tests BCR binding strength and thereby regulates B cell clonal selection during antibody affinity maturation and responses to pathogen evasion. We propose to test this hypothesis by (1) determining the magnitude and timing of the forces generated by B cells, and (2) determining the role of the mechanical properties of BCR-antigen bonds in affinity maturation and (3) in the development of broadly neutralising antibodies. We expect that the results of these studies will contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the antibody repertoire in response to infections and have practical implications for the development of vaccines.

Mots-clés : b cell,antibody,immune synapse,antigen,endocytosis,signalling,single molecule,force,affinity maturation
Projet ERC : FLEXICAT (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Cardiff University — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 146461.0 €

The production of waste glycerol is increasing annually and there is a desire to efficiently upgrade it to more valuable chemicals. In particular glycerol is a bio-derived feedstock and its efficient transformation to essential chemicals is an alternative to using fossil fuel based resources. We have discovered a new-class of catalysts based on active metal nanoparticles supported on perovskite metal oxides. These catalysts are very efficient for the transformation of glycerol to highly desirable products, like lactic acid, and they have been patented. We are able to control the product selectivity and activity of the catalysts by tailoring the composition of the perovskite phase, and exert an unprecedented degree of control over the yield of the desired product. The new catalysts demonstrate a level of performance that is industrially significant. The perovskite-based catalyst system is a major advance and the key step is in the preparation of the perovskites in order to achieve high surface areas. This activity is unique to perovskites and we now want to take this discovery forward to attain a flexible/adaptable process for conversion of glycerol to higher value materials, maximising value by allowing switching of product streams. The commercial proposition for which we are seeking financial support is to bring forward a demonstrator catalyst system that delivers the efficient formation of selected products (e.g. glyceric acid, lactic acid, tartronic acid) from glycerol. The technical programme has been developed following feedback from industry and independent market research commissioned by Cardiff and will focus on de-risking the technology and strengthening the commercial case to exploit this innovation.

Mots-clés : heterogeneous catalysis,perovskites,selective oxidation,glycerol,lactic acid
Projet ERC : PhaseControl (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Universitätsklinikum Aachen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : UKA
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 172500.0 €

The progression from a healthy liver towards non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) serves as a model for chronic diseases in a solid organ, demonstrating how an initially stable stage undergoes critical transitions along several defined phases. Defining the molecular drivers of these phase transitions will open the road for the definition of warning signs, risk prediction approaches and prevention of disease decompensation in human liver disease. We recently made several ground-breaking findings indicating that the molecules RIPK3 and MLKL – which regulate a novel form of programmed cell death called necroptosis – are crucial mediators of these phase transitions, but they might have unexpected and cell-death-independent functions. Therefore, PhaseControl aims at exploring the specific functions of these molecules at the critical phase transitions towards NASH/HCC. Specifically, I propose to apply a systematic approach and innovative methods to 1) explore cell-type specific RIPK3- and MLKL-dependent regulatory networks in white adipose tissue (WAT), hepatocytes and myeloid cells in murine NASH development and define cell-death independent functions of MLKL in metabolic regulation; 2) explore how inflammatory pathways in hepatocytes modulate the reactivity and specific responses towards necroptosis at the transition towards hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); 3) examine apoptosis- and necroptosis-specific genetic alterations and driver mutations that mediate the transition from chronic inflammation to HCC; 4) evaluate in a cohort of human patients if these newly discovered pathways can be used for risk-prediction approaches and might be chemoprevention targets against HCC. The expected results will establish a novel concept how programmed cell death, inflammation and metabolic pathways functionally interact in hepatocarcinogenesis with fundamental relevance for risk prediction and chemoprevention of human liver cancer.

Mots-clés : non alcoholic fatty liver disease,nafld,non alcoholic steatohepatitis,nash,hepatocellular carcinoma,liver,liver cancer,cell death,alarmins,necroptosis,apoptosis,ripk3,mlkl
Projet ERC : RiP (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1415627.5 €

The project RiP aims to provide a groundbreaking new interpretation of late medieval theories of mind and cognition by focusing on the influence higher cognitive (rational) powers exert on lower (sensory) ones in the neglected tradition of Augustinian philosophy of perception. Due to increasing difficulties in explaining the unity and objectivity of perceptual experience, late medieval authors came to question the dominant Aristotelian theory, with its passive account of perception and emphatic separation between sensory and intellectual functions. This led to a resurfacing of the Augustinian tradition, which is characterized by an emphasis on activity and top-down processing, built around the notions of intentionality and self-awareness. The project investigates the hypothesis that perception changes from being explained on the basis of a model of the soul that is metaphysically composite of really distinct clusters of functions to a model in which rationality permeates the functions previously attributed to lower cognitive capacities. It is the 'flow of reason', an expression found in a late sixteenth-century textbook. The project has therefore two main objectives: (1) to offer the first systematic study of late medieval theories of perception, focusing on the relation between the senses and intellect (2) to retrace the shift in late medieval philosophy of perception that led to (a) a progressive questioning of direct realism in cognition and (b) the incremental reduction of all psychological functions to the mind. The results of the project will allow a better understanding of the philosophical assumptions of late medieval theories of cognition, shedding new light on the historical background of early modern and contemporary conceptions of rationality.

Mots-clés : perception,rationality,intentionality,activity,mind
Projet ERC : EXORADIO (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe sciences
Entité participante : Centre national de la recherche scientifique — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CNRS
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1962500.0 €

The project aims at expanding the planetology, exoplanets and space weather fields by obtaining the first confirmed detections and subsequent in-depth studies of radio emissions from exoplanets. Origin of the emissions can be the magnetosphere of the exoplanet or its plasma interaction with its parent star. Magnetospheres of Solar System planets are very diverse, although emerging from the same basic plasma physics laws. Better sampling the parameter space by exploring various stellar luminosities and winds properties, planetary magnetic fields, geometries of interaction, will allow us to identify fundamental processes and separate them from the specificities of each system, as was done earlier for the question of planetary formation. Although recent observations at 100-200 MHz from large modern radiotelescopes may be revealing the first star-planet plasma interactions, I show why our searches must concentrate at the lowest frequencies observable from the ground, 10 to 85 MHz, and why intense enough signal should exist at these frequencies. The world’s most sensitive instrument in this range, NenuFAR, of which I am principal investigator, is now operational, and I will use it to conduct the largest ever exoplanet search program at radio frequencies. The main analysis tools have been developed and tested on LOFAR data, and the frame for interpreting theoretically the detected signals is ready. I took a large part in all these developments. I am thus at the right place and time to get the detections that will open the new field of comparative exo-magnetospheric physics and exo-space weather, as well as open a new window to study exoplanets, their magnetic field, interior structure, rotation, inclination, the parent-star interaction, and even habitability. These revolutionary developments will usher a new era in astrophysics. While studying the northern low-frequency sky with NenuFAR, I will also prepare in a timely way our exploration of the southern sky with SKA.

Mots-clés : exoplanets,star planet interaction,magnetic field,magnetospheres,radioastronomy,low frequencies,space weather,habitability
Projet ERC : 2-NanoSi (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Institut Català d'Investigació Química — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ICIQ;ICIQ-CERCA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 101000.0 €

The project aims to create a demo system for cost effective, non-invasive device for rapid detection of cystic fibrosis in humans. The detection of human recessive diseases has been dominated by the use of fluorescent biomarkers, based on organic dyes, helping researchers to study and analyse gene expression, cell cycle, and enzymatic activity. Among several proteolytic enzymes, trypsin has attracted much attention, as it is a target in the study of various important human recessive diseases including, for example, cystic fibrosis (CF). We present herein two colour encoded silica nanospheres (2nanoSi) for the fluorescence quantitative ratiometric determination of cystic in humans. Current detection technologies for cystic fibrosis diagnosis are slow, costly and suffer from false positives. The 2nanoSi proved to be a fast (minutes), a single-step and with two times higher sensitivity than the state-of-the-art biomarkers based sensors for cystic fibrosis, allowing the quantification of trypsin concentrations in a wide range (25-350 μg/L). Moreover, our approach can be used from the 4th day of life when the trypsin concentration is already the same as in adults. Furthermore, as trypsin is directly related to the development of cystic fibrosis (CF), different human phenotypes, i.e. normal (160-340 μg/L), CF homozygotic (0-90 μg/L), and CF heterozygotic (91-349 μg/L), respectively, can be determined using our 2nanoSi nanospheres. We anticipate the 2nanoSi system to be a starting point for non-invasive, easy-to-use and cost effective ratiometric fluorescence biomarker for recessive genetic diseases alike human cystic fibrosis.

Mots-clés : nanomedicine,health,nanomaterials,cistic fibrosis
Projet ERC : PapyGreek (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : University of Helsinki — Pays : Finlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UH
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1495584.0 €

The project creates a new Digital Grammar of Greek Documentary Papyri. It fills a void in Greek scholarship: the papyrological corpus represents the Post-Classical variety of Greek, a bridge between Classical and Medieval Greek, which has hitherto been very difficult to use as a source for studying historical linguistics. This project will develop new digital methods for studying this fragmentary but vast text corpus. Greek is a unique language for linguists in its chronological scope. Documentary Greek papyri, ranging from ca. 300 BCE to 700 CE, can be contrasted with literature: these papyri preserve us the language as the ancient writer composed it and lead us close to the colloquial contemporary language. The nonstandard variation in documentary texts is where language change can first be detected, making the papyrological corpus an important source for diachronic study of Greek. The new Grammar of Greek papyri will answer such questions as how much bilingualism affected Greek in Egypt and when and where it was a dominant feature of the society. The papyri will partly be treated as big data; the whole corpus will be morphologically tagged. This will enable e.g. phonological analyses to be performed in greater accuracy than has been possible before through eliminating the confusion between inflectional morphology and phonological variation. As a result, the Digital Grammar will bring the language used in the Greek papyri openly available to the scholarly community in an unforeseen manner. It will include new, more exact analyses of the phonology and morphology of Greek in Egypt, as well as a possibility to search both phonological and morphological forms, in combination or in separation, in the whole corpus. The syntactically annotated corpora will form a smaller but constantly expanding corpus of selected papyri, which yields to a wider range of searches on morphosyntax.
Projet ERC : AIM (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Proof of concept grants)
Entité participante : Delft University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 149998.0 €

The project has a goal of starting up a small business producing highly special customizable microscope systems for biomedical research. Microscopic imaging is one of the major drivers of the progress in biomedical and life sciences. The development of novel concepts, addressing the challenges of advanced optical microscopy, represents the front line of scientific research. Modern microscopes are not purely optical devices anymore. They have developed into complex integrated systems, combining optics, mechanics, electronics, feedback control systems, and image processing Many novel concepts of modern microscopy, while very interesting for research, still have to prove the commercial profitability. Such developments can be effectively addressed by start-up companies with a goal of either custom development, production and service of these advanced systems, or development and selling the IP to a larger player. The major goal of this proposal is the creation of the first commercial optical microscope, the performance of which depends completely on the adaptive optics feedback controls. To prove the feasibility of this approach, we select a highly attractive technical concept of adaptive light sheet microscope, developed in our group in the framework of the ERC project. In this aspect, our development relates to ordinary microscope system in the same way as “fly by wire” airplane relates to an old-fashioned one. Our contribution in the development of instrumentation for biomedical research will bring a positive impact on our knowledge about the nature and ourselves, the quality of life and life expectation of the population. Our proposal addresses the largest societal challenge of Europe: the healthcare. Our instrument will contribute to the understanding of complex diseases and support the greying population to stay healthy and self-supportive for extended period of time.

Mots-clés : adaptive imaging,light sheet microscopy
Projet ERC : THEKAISERSMOSQUES (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : University of Vienna — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Univie
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1257973.0 €

The project highlights a grossly understudied experiment at the intersection of nineteenth-century European and Islamic architectural histories. It draws attention to a significant body of buildings designed by architects trained in Central Europe for use by Muslims in Habsburg-ruled Bosnia-Herzegovina (1878-1918). These buildings, many of which mosques, largely draw upon a traditional Islamic formal and functional typology. The composition and decoration of their facades, however, is the product of nineteenth-century Historicist conduct. Quoted are elements from assorted Islamic artistic heritages, with prominence given to Cairo and Andalusia. In Bosnia, many of these buildings were misinterpreted as mere renovations of Ottoman edifices, as is indeed declared on several inscriptions. However, this information generally appears to pertain to the institutions accommodated in these buildings rather than to their present form and architecture. The project’s primary intention is to validate the assertion that these buildings must be considered a distinct group of architectural monuments, and that they, in consequence, constitute a phenomenon that necessitates separate appraisal and study. Intertwined with this architectural phenomenon is the stylistic phenomenon traditionally (yet inaccurately) called ‘pseudo-Moorish’ in Bosnia. This Orientalizing style was the preferred choice for buildings constructed for use by Muslims; it is be the project’s second focus of inquiry. The study seeks to explore its historical sources and the channels of their reception, as well as the logic and aesthetic of these sources’ paraphrasing in a nineteenth-century context. By documenting and analyzing this heritage in the necessary detail, the project fills a significant gap in published scholarly research. It also contributes to our understanding of European powers’ historical responses to the challenge of cultural diversity in territories under their control.

Mots-clés : orientalism,architectural history,islamic art,southeast europe,balkans,central europe,austria hungary,bosnia herzegovina