Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : EVOMESODERM (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
Entité participante : University of Bergen — Pays : Norvège — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999500.0 €

Mesoderm, the embryonic germ layer between ectoderm and endoderm, gives rise to major organs within the circulatory and excretory systems and to stabilizing tissues (muscles, bones, connective tissue). Although mesoderm is a key-innovation in evolutionary history, its origin and further diversification into the different organs and cell types of a broad range of animals has not been elucidated. Our knowledge of mesoderm development is mainly based on work performed in prominent model systems including vertebrates (fish, frog and mouse) and invertebrates that are distantly-related and considered to be highly derived (Drosophila and C. elegans). The project proposed herein aims to study mesoderm development in a variety of highly informative animal taxa and trace its differentiation into cell types and organs, with the ultimate aim of reconstructing the history of mesoderm during animal evolution. Our approach combines advanced bioinformatics, live-imaging and molecular methods, and will be carried out in nine representative species belonging to under-investigated animal groups. We will describe the morphological and molecular development of mesoderm in these species, and the differentiation of two important mesodermal cell types: nephridia and blood. Using this information we will be able to infer the embryology and mesodermal cell type composition of ancestors at six important nodes in the animal tree of life. We will also be able to comprehend when shifts in mesoderm development have occurred and how these shifts have remodeled the animal body plans. Further, our implementation of advanced methods in under-studied species will provide new model systems and a more comprehensive framework for further studies in evolutionary developmental biology as well as in other research fields.

Mots-clés : evolution,development,zoology,mesoderm,gastrulation,cell types,bodyplan,evo devo,timelapse microscopy,nephridia,embryology,blood vascular system,rnaseq,comparative genomics
Projet ERC : ALHOME (Horizon 2020, appel 2020, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Human Mind and Its Complexity
Entité participante : University of Cambridge — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. Cambridge
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1997800.0 €

Mesopotamia is the home of remarkably diverse ethnoreligious and linguistic microcommunities with historical roots in the ancient Near East. Jewish and Christian minorities with their own unique Ara-maic traditions have co-existed alongside mainly Iranian speech communities for millennia. Today the origin and development of this rich cultural-linguistic mosaic remains elusive due to superimposed nationalisms and paucity of historical records. ALHOME aims to reconstruct the complex, socioreligious past of the disappearing indigenous communities who were once more widespread across West Asian from the first millennium BC well into the Islamic period. Studying their genetic and social interrelations through their linguistic traditions will radically change our ideas about their origins. Using linguistic evidence hitherto untapped for this aim, we can untangle the intertwined his-tories of Jewish, Christian and Kurdish (i.e., Iranian) communities. This evidence comes from the recently richly enhanced database of spoken Neo-Aramaic languages which stretch back 3,000 years. This promises to mark a sea change in linguistic studies which have focused on the documentation of endangered languages as well as in sociological studies that have focused on the historical context giving rise to nationalisms. For the first time an interdisciplinary team of both Aramaic and Iranian specialists and computational linguists will study the interactions between two speech communities. We will apply groundbreaking quantitative, phylogenetic models to unearth relations between speech communities over millennia. Studying this period of multiculturalism and multilingualism of virtually unparalleled duration promises to challenge existing models of contact. Aramaic-Iranian exchanges fit into models based neither purely on linguistic-cultural prestige nor on agentivity of a single language. Thus ALHOME will have major implications for our understanding of areal convergence and contact.

Mots-clés : mesopotamia,iraq,aramaic linguistics,iranian linguistics,computational historical linguistics,areal linguistics,social history
Projet ERC : MapMe (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Entité participante : University of Tübingen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 706177.77 €

Metabolic engineering creates improved microbes for industrial biotechnology. Rational design of industrial microbes centres on modifications of genes with known roles in the production pathway of interest. However, genes that are unrelated to the production pathway are also known to substantially impact productivity. To date there are no methods that allow the prediction of such distal genes on a rational basis. Effects of distal genes are indirect, and mediated through regulatory interactions between metabolites and proteins, most of which are currently unknown even in the well-studied microbe Escherichia coli. The lack of knowledge of metabolite-protein interactions thus effectively prohibits systematic exploration of distal regulatory relationships, with the consequence that models used to predict metabolic engineering targets are severely limited and rarely applied in industrial biotechnology. Previously, we used small-scale metabolic models and metabolomics to infer metabolite-protein interactions in specific pathways. In this project we propose a novel genome-wide endeavor to map metabolite-protein interactions across the entire metabolic network. For this purpose, we will use the recently developed CRISPR interference system to quantitatively perturb >900 single metabolic genes in E. coli. Combining the metabolomics data of these >900 gene perturbations with a genome-scale metabolic model will enable us to infer functionally relevant metabolite-protein interactions. Finally, we will apply this knowledge to the model-guided metabolic engineering of superior E. coli strains. Specifically, we want E. coli to cease growth upon induction and focus all its metabolic resources towards synthesis of succinic acid. This controlled uncoupling of growth from overproduction on a rational basis will break new grounds in metabolic engineering and opens up novel applications in industrial biotechnology.
Projet ERC : Survive (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : University of Oxford — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1922575.0 €

Metabolism generates vast quantities of acid, which exerts broad-spectrum biological effects because protein protonation is a powerful post-translational modification. Regulation of intracellular pH (pHi) is therefore a homeostatic priority, but carefully orchestrated proton dynamics are a versatile signal. Extracellular acidity is an established chemical signature of tumours and has recently been proposed to convey a signal that shapes the phenotypic landscape of cancer. Cancer’s genetic instability yields diversity in acid handling and signalling, forming a substrate for selection under acid-stress. This is a plausible mechanism for disease progression and an analogy can be drawn to experimentally-verified hypoxic selection. Current models of acid handling in cancer are, however, based on population-averages of observations made at the cell level. This fails to appreciate diversity and the complexity inherent in tissues. We will produce a more complete understanding of acid handling that accounts for diffusive transport across tissue compartments and the role of the tumour stroma. A systems-approach of characterising pH-regulatory processes cell-by-cell will identify which components are liable to vary, and thus are a substrate for acid-driven somatic evolution. The long-term effects of proton signals on gene expression have not been tested, despite evidence for proton-sensing transcription factors. To address the mechanism for adaptation to acid-stress, proton-sensing transcription factors will be characterised from studies of gene expression under chemically and optogenetically operated pH stimuli. The definition of a cell’s fitness to survive at a particular microenvironment pH and its relationship with stemness remain unclear. Phenotyping pHi-gated subpopulations in terms of growth, stemness and tumourigenicity will define pH-fitness and its role in aggressiveness. In evolving to survive metabolism, cancer cells may acquire the ability to thrive in new niches.

Mots-clés : proton signaling,proton sensors,ph regulation,metabolism,diffusion,acid,base chemistry,tumour microenvironment,tumour stroma,darwinian selection,acid driven somatic evolution
Projet ERC : DarkSERS (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Freie Universität Berlin — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : FU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2299506.0 €

Metal nanostructures show pronounced electromagnetic resonances that arise from localized surface plasmons. These collective oscillations of free electrons in the metal give rise to confined electromagnetic near fields. Surface-enhanced spectroscopy exploits the near-field intensity to enhance the optical response of nanomaterials by many orders of magnitude. Plasmons are classified as bright and dark depending on their interaction with far-field radiation. Bright modes are dipole-allowed excitations that absorb and scatter light. Dark modes are resonances of the electromagnetic near field only that do not couple to propagating modes. The suppressed photon emission of dark plasmons makes their resonances spectrally narrow and intense, which is highly desirable for enhanced spectroscopy as well as storing and transporting electromagnetic energy in nanostructures. The suppressed absorption, however, prevents us from routinely exploiting dark modes in nanoplasmonic systems. I propose using spatially patterned light beams to excite dark plasmons with far-field radiation. By this I mean a beam profile with varying polarization and intensity that will be matched to the dark electromagnetic eigenmode. My approach activates the excitation of dark modes, while their radiative decay remains suppressed. I will show how to harvest dark modes for surface-enhanced Raman scattering providing superior intensity and an enhancement that is tailored to a specific vibration. Another feature of dark modes is their strong coupling to the vibrations of nanostructures. I will use this to amplify vibrational modes and, ultimately, induce phonon lasing. The proposed research aims at an enabling technology that unlocks a novel range of nanoplasmonic properties. It will put dark plasmons on par with the well-recognized bright modes to be used in fundamental science and for applications in analytics, optoelectronic, and nanoimaging.

Mots-clés : plasmon,dark plasmon,nanoplasmonics,raman scattering,surface enhanced raman scattering,sers,graphene,carbon nanotubes,molecules,cylindrical vector beams,polarization,phonon amplification
Projet ERC : VAPORE (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : KU Leuven — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : KUL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1787475.0 €

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline solids with highly regular pores in the nanometer range. The possibility to create a tailored nano-environment inside the MOF pores makes these materials high-potential candidates for integration with microelectronics, e.g. as sensor coatings, solid electrolytes, etc. However, current solvent-based methods for MOF film deposition, a key enabling step in device integration, are incompatible with microelectronics fabrication because of contamination and corrosion issues. VAPORE will open up the path to integrate MOFs in microelectronics by developing a solvent-free chemical vapor deposition (CVD) route for MOF films. MOF-CVD will be the first example of vapor-phase deposition of any type of microporous crystalline network solid and marks an important milestone in processing such materials. Development of the MOF-CVD technology platform will start from a proof-of-concept case and will be supported by the following pillars: (1) Insight in the process, (2) expansion of the materials scope and (3) fine-tuning process control. The potential of MOF-CVD coatings will be illustrated in proof-of-concept sensors. In summary, by growing porous crystalline films from the vapor phase for the first time, VAPORE implements molecular self-assembly as a scalable tool to fabricate highly controlled nanopores. In doing so, the project will enable cross-fertilization between the worlds of nanoscale chemistry and microelectronics, two previously incompatible fields.

Mots-clés : porous crystalline materials,microporous materials,metal organic frameworks,mofs,porous coordination polymers
Projet ERC : FC2DMOF (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Entité participante : TU Dresden — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TUD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been highlighted for catalysis, gas storage and separation. However, due to low conductivity (<1E-8 S/cm), weak magnetic interaction as well as difficult device integration, the application of bulk 3D MOFs in (spin-)electronics is challenging. Recent advances disclose that the designs of conjugated 2D MOFs (C2DMOFs) have led to improved intrinsic conductivity (up to 1000 S/cm). However, the related research remains immature due to lack of high-quality film samples, very limited structural types and elusive transport mechanism. In this project, we will develop unprecedented magnetic (semi-)conductive C2DMOFs and accomplish electronic/magnetic structure engineering for functions in electronics and spintronics. Here, we will synthesize novel conjugated monomers to tune geometries and pore sizes of C2DMOFs, thus achieving in-plane engineering on charge and spin distribution. We will develop versatile synthesis strategies towards highly crystalline C2DMOF films/nanosheets: (1) develop solvothermal synthesis and subsequent electrochemical exfoliation of layer-stacked bulk samples into 2D nanosheets; (2) develop air/liquid and liquid/liquid interfacial synthesis of large-area single-/few-layer films; (3) particularly establish a ground-breaking chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis route for “clean” single-crystalline films. We will further establish unprecedented C2DMOF-based 2D-2D van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) with other inorganic 2D crystals to realize out-of-plane engineering on band gaps and unique interfacial transport characteristics. By employing the developed C2DMOFs and vdWHs, we will explore magnetism and temperature-/magnetic field-depended charge transport properties. As the key achievements, we expect to establish novel electronic/magnetic structures and general synthesis strategies, delineation of reliable structure-transport relationships and superior device performance of C2DMOFs.

Mots-clés : 2d materials,metal organic frameworks,2d polymers,organic electronics,magnetics
Projet ERC : METACHROM (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems
Entité participante : Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : Inserm
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1999025.0 €

Metastable epialleles are alleles that are variably expressed in genetically identical individuals. These epialleles are established during early development by epigenetic modifications in a process influenced by stress and the environment. The epiallele’s state can subsequently be maintained throughout development and adult life. Studying the mechanisms underlying establishment and maintenance of chromatin states is critical to understanding how the environment can shape the epigenome and how it can impact on diseases and aging. Most mouse metastable epialleles result from a nearby insertion of an endogenous retrovirus, which induces position effect variegation. In mouse embryonic stem cells, these elements are silenced by the histone methyl-transferase SETDB1 which imparts heterochromatin features by tri-methylating histone H3 on lysine 9. In the same cells, telomeric H3K9me3 is also installed by SETDB1 but surprisingly, we found that H3K9me3 correlates with enhanced transcriptional activity at telomeres. I hypothesize here that metastable chromatin states are controlled by H3K9me3 and associated factors, which are targeted to defined positions that can either instruct silencing, or support active expression. To understand how metastable chromatin states are regulated, we will first use a locus-specific chromatin proteomics approach to identify H3K9me3-dependent factors in the contexts of transcription or repression. Next, both pathways will be reconstituted by tethering those factors at specific positions on model genes, and maintenance of these states will be analyzed. Finally, to obtain a comprehensive picture of the metastable states establishment and maintenance, we will map heterochromatin factors genome-wide, in response to distinct stimuli in mESCs. This proposal will deepen our understanding of the mechanisms by which mammals use gene regulation to adapt to environmental conditions.

Mots-clés : heterochromatin,epigenetic memory,stress
Projet ERC : MetaRegulation (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie — Pays : Belgique — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : VIB
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2000000.0 €

Metastatic growth of cancer cells requires extracellular matrix (ECM) production. The current understanding is that transcription factors regulate ECM production and thus metastatic growth by increasing the expression of collagen prolyl 4-hydroxylase (CP4H). In contrast, we recently discovered that metabolism regulates CP4H activity independently of the known transcription factors. Specifically, we found that loss of pyruvate metabolism inhibits CP4H activity and consequently ECM–dependent breast cancer cell growth. Based on this discovery we propose the novel concept that metabolism regulates metastatic growth by increasing ECM production. In this project we will investigate the following questions: 1) What is the mechanism by which pyruvate regulates CP4H activity in breast cancer cells? To address this question we will investigate pyruvate metabolism and ECM production in 3D cultures of various breast cancer cell lines using 13C tracer analysis, metabolomics, and two-photon microscopy based ECM visualization. 2) How can this novel metabolic regulation be exploited to inhibit breast cancer-derived lung metastases growth? To address this question we will inhibit pyruvate metabolism in metastatic breast cancer mouse models using genetically modified cells and small molecules in combination with immuno- and chemotherapy. 3) How can this novel regulation be translated to different metastatic sites and cancers of different origin? To address this question we will determine the in vivo metabolism of breast cancer-, lung cancer-, and melanoma-derived liver and lung metastases (using metabolomics and 13C tracer analysis), and link it to ECM production (using two-photon microscopy based ECM visualization). With this project we will deliver a novel concept by which metabolism regulates metastatic growth. In a long-term perspective we expect that targeting this novel metabolic regulation will pave the way for an unexplored approach to treat cancer metastases.

Mots-clés : in vivo cancer metabolism,metastasis,metabolic regulation,extracellular matrix production
Projet ERC : QnanoMECA (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology — Pays : Suisse — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : ETH Zurich
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 0.0 €

Micro- and nano-mechanical oscillators with high quality (Q)-factors have gained much interest for their capability to sense very small forces. Recently, this interest has exponentially grown owing to their potential to push the current limits of experimental quantum physics and contribute to our further understanding of quantum effects with large objects. Despite recent advances in the design and fabrication of mechanical resonators, their Q-factor has so far been limited by coupling to the environment through physical contact to a support. This limitation is foreseen to become a bottleneck in the field which might hinder reaching the performances required for some of the envisioned applications. A very attractive alternative to conventional mechanical resonators is based on optically levitated nano-objects in vacuum. In particular, a nanoparticle trapped in the focus of a laser beam in vacuum is mechanically disconnected from its environment and hence does not suffer from clamping losses. First experiments on this configuration have confirmed the unique capability of this approach and demonstrated the largest mechanical Q-factor ever observed at room temperature. The QnanoMECA project aims at capitalizing on the unique capability of optically levitating nanoparticles to advance the field of optomechanics well beyond the current state-of-the-art. The project is first aimed at bringing us closer to ground-state cooling at room temperature. We will also explore new paradigms of optomechanics based on the latest advances of nano-optics. The unique optomechanical properties of the developed systems based on levitated nanoparticles will be used to explore new physical regimes whose experimental observation has been so far hindered by current experimental limitations.

Mots-clés : optomechanics