Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Cellular mechanisms underlying formation of the fear memory trace in the mouse amygdala (FEAR MEMORY TRACE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Outgoing Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Greece
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IOF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-06-15
End date: 2013-09-01
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 205091.2
EU funding (EUR): 205091.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Conditioned fear memory in response to an auditory stimulus serves as a prototype for studying the pathological emotional states as well as understanding the neural mechanisms of memory allocation, storage, retrieval and extinction. The conditioned fear memory in mice has been found to be allocated and stored within a subgroup of neurons in the amygdala, a critical region for expression of this type of memory. Expression levels of the transcription factor CREB (cyclic adenosine 3’-5’ monophospate response element –binding protein) has been shown to modulate allocation of memory to a specific group of neurons, constituting the memory trace, and neuronal excitability could play a role. Our goals in this proposal are, first, to investigate the synaptic properties in pairs of LA neurons before and after fear conditioning, and second, to delineate the neural mechanisms that allow a neuron to encode a specific memory and become part of the memory trace. In approaching our goals, we will conduct electrophysiological experiments in mice transfected with viral vectors that co-express CREB tagged with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and the gene for channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2) allowing for specific activation of the transfected neurons. We will study the synaptic properties in pairs of transfected neurons by stimulating one neuron with a laser and performing whole-cell patch clamp recordings in another one. In addition, we will construct a network of amygdala neuron models based on experimental data which will allow us to simulate the emergence of plasticity changes observed in neurons that encode the same memory, and study the underlying biophysical mechanisms of these plasticity changes. The results from behavioral, electrophysiological and modeling experiments will give us insights on how neurons compete with each other for allocation to a specific memory.

Keywords: molecular genetics,computational biology,neurobiology
Biochemical and Structural characterization of signal transduction by OTU family of Deubiquitinases (BISSOT'D)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-04-01
End date: 2012-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 180103.2
EU funding (EUR): 108103.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Ubiquitination is a reversible post-translational modification (PTM) regulating diverse cellular functions including cell cycle, apoptosis, gene expression, inflammation and DNA repair. Ubiquitination results in the tagging of proteins with either monoubiquitin or polyubiquitin chains of different linkages that are structurally distinct. Given that protein ubiquitination is involved in so many cellular processes, it needs to be under very tight regulation. Protein ubiquitination is reversed by deubiquitinases (DUBs), which are specialized proteases that cleave the isopeptide linkage between ubiquitin molecules in chains or between ubiquitin and protein substrates. The objective of this study is to understand how substrate specificity is determined and in particular, how function of the A20-family of ovarian tumour (OTU) DUBs is regulated. I will crystallize the catalytic domains of OTU family DUBs involved in cell signalling, to understand their ubiquitin chain linkage specificity. I intend to establish how the interacting scaffolding proteins of A20-like DUBs, such as ABIN and TAX1BP1, mediate substrate targeting and specificity, and allosterically regulate enzyme activity. I shall express full-length protein complexes of A20 and Cezanne together with their interacting proteins using multi-gene baculovirus and mammalian systems. I will use X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy to understand the structure and conformational changes regulating DUB complex activation. The structural insights obtained will be used to understand oncogenic DUB mutants, and establish how DUB dysregulation leads to tumorigenesis. Lastly, I will analyze how reversible oxidation regulates DUBs during signalling. The proposed structural and biochemical characterisation of the multi-subunit protein complexes of DUBs will help define the molecular details of allosteric mechanisms governing A20-like DUBs and provide the basis for design of pharmaceutical modulators of DUB activity.

Keywords: ubiquitination,structural biology,deubiquitinases,nf-kappab,allosteric regulation,signalling complexes
THE ROLE OF ECOLOGICAL COMPETITION IN THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL SIGNALS (AVIAN COMPETITION)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF, 2009)
Start date: 2011-01-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173240.8
EU funding (EUR): 173240.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Species interactions are known to play an important role in community ecology but their influence on phenotypic evolution is not well understood. Where closely related species come into contact they could diverge, converge, or competitively exclude each other. This project will examine the importance of the level of phenotypic and genetic similarity of species in determining patterns of phenotypic variation at contact zones. In particular, the project will focus on variation in traits important in social interactions and how these may diverge or converge between species based on the intensity of resource competition. It will incorporate geographic variation across the landscape and the importance of environmental variation between populations. Bird songs are known to play an important role in territorial interactions, and this study will focus on how the level of ecological and genetic similarity influences the extent of divergence or convergence in songs of Hypocnemis antbirds. Because of the importance of bird song in species recognition, variation in the direction of displacement is of fundamental importance to our understanding of the processes that explain evolutionary diversification. Furthermore, an understanding of how the extent of phenotypic similarity and ecological competition affects the level of range overlap that occurs between species at different contact zones may aid in better understanding current species distributions.

Keywords: natural sciences
In search of new cytomegalovirus vaccine antigens (MEGALOVAX)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-07-01
End date: 2012-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 164958.6
EU funding (EUR): 164958.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Aim of the project is to search for antigens that induce neutralizing antibodies in mice, which prevent entry of Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in vitro, and to characterize the identified candidate antigen with respect to its function. We will employ the “reverse vaccinology approach” with two robust technological platforms. A published genomic DNA sequence of HCMV has been analyzed and identified putative genes encoding surface exposed or secreted proteins using computer algorithms. Based on this analysis, candidate DNA sequences have been synthesized and are ready for cloning into expression vectors. •The selected genes will be expressed in eukaryotic cells in vitro and characterized to compare with information obtained from the bioinformatic analyses. •To screen immunogenicity of the candidate proteins, we will insert candidate genes into alphavirus vector to prepare pseudo-virion (alphavirus replicon particles), which induce robust immune responses in mice against the expressed gene product. Sera from immunized mice will be collected and submitted to immunological assays, including western blotting, immunofluorescence studies and in vitro neutralization assays. •In vitro neutralization assays will be set up with bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) system that produce recombinant HCMV expressing a reporter gene to detect infection to cultured cells. •Sera from HCMV seropositive individuals will be analyzed to detect existence of specific antibodies to selected antigens by western blotting or the protein microarray technology. Screening of vaccine targets against HCMV infection in MEGALOVAX includes the reverse vaccinology approach applied for the first time to viral pathogens with the two abovementioned technological platforms. This new approach is expected to offer a breakthrough of discovery of new HCMV antigens for protection. The results from this project will also contribute to further understanding of viral-host interactions during HCMV infection.

Keywords: health sciences,medical sciences,medicine,immunology,vaccines,infections
The contribution of multi-stakeholder partnerships to sustainable landscape management (LANDSCAPEPARTNERS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-06-01
End date: 2012-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 173403.2
EU funding (EUR): 173403.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

There is ongoing political and scientific debate about how to achieve sustainable management of natural resources that will benefit rural communities’ economic development while protecting and enhancing natural assets. Non-governmental multi-stakeholder groups are an important link between policies and on-ground management. There is limited knowledge on the groups’ contribution to sustainable development and only scattered information on how efficiently the activities of these groups can be influenced by means of political programmes such as LEADER. The objective of the project is to identify, analyse and assess the contribution of multi-stakeholder partnerships to the sustainable management of rural landscapes and to the well-being of communities in three European countries. The analysis will classify different types of groups and their specific area of involvement and contribution. The contribution will be assessed from the economic, the social/cultural and the environmental perspective. A crucial point is the definition of the objective(s) that the assessment is made towards. The project aims to consider externally defined objectives (from the regional or national level) as well as internally defined objectives (from within the group or community) and compare the resulting assessments. In addition, the project aims to answer the question which factors determine the resilience and longevity of groups, and whether externally induced groups are as viable as groups that have formed from the bottom up through local stakeholders’ initiative. The project will apply a mix of explorative, qualitative and quantitative methods drawing on institutional analysis, actor network and conflict analysis, as well as communication and behavioural theory. The applicability of the theory of multiple intelligences, as well as the applicability of resilience theory to the social construct of multi-stakeholder groups will be tested.

Keywords: multi-stakeholder partnerships,human-nature relationship,rural landscape,environmental management,sustainability,community engagement,multi-level governance,policy implementation,participation
Transnational Community Mobilizations for Peace: French Jewish Mobilizations in Israel (TRANSPEACE)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-10-01
End date: 2012-09-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 171740.8
EU funding (EUR): 171740.8
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Abstract: What motivates transnational community social movements to get involved in a violent community/ethnic conflict by choosing to practice non violent direct action (NVDA)? How do they manage to attain their objectives? What impact have these actions on the future of the movements that bring them about, the community to which they belong, and on the situation of the conflict? The purpose of this research project is to answer these questions by examining the case of transnational French Jewish peace movements that situate their non violent direct action in Israel. In the vast literature focusing on the international or transnational dimensions of community conflicts, little attention has been given so far to the role played by transnational peace movements. It seems that we still lack a comprehensive analysis of the involvement of transnational peace movement in community conflicts, especially in two directions: how are they affected by larger processes such as globalisation while contributing to shaping them? What are the local effects of their actions, both in areas affected by the conflict and in the country where they mobilize? This is especially true of peace movements which conjugate their political involvement for peace with a community orientation and membership, namely which appear to be connected to one “side” of the conflict. Not only does their action impact on the conflict, especially by acting directly in the territories where it takes place, these community peace movements also strive to change representations regarding it in the mobilizing country. This in turn modifies the content associated with a community mobilisation and affects belonging processes themselves, as the French case shows. A strong pro-peace sensibility can be observed in the Jewish community, however, in a public sphere characterized by the vilification of the “other” side, such political position is hardly audible in France and tends to materialize in concrete initiatives

Keywords: transnational-mobilizations-community-french-jewish-israel-peace-non violence-ethnicization-globalization.
Condensed matter applications of the AdS/CFT correspondence (CMADS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2012-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 221553.2
EU funding (EUR): 221553.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

String Theory encodes a “holographic” dual description of the strong coupling regime of many Field Theories via the “AdS/CFT correspondence”. The latter has been recently employed to investigate properties of strongly coupled Condensed Matter systems, such as "unconventional" superconductors and non-relativistic models similar to the Fermi gas near a Feshbach resonance. The goal of the present research project is to study Condensed Matter systems by means of a dual String Theory description. The concrete applications will start from an accurate analysis of the quantum effects of "defects" or "quasi-particles" in specific models. These "defects" are described as D-branes in String Theory. They serve as models of strongly interacting electrons for the study of superconductivity, strongly coupled quantum liquids or the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect. The first step of this research project will involve the investigation of the interaction effects of the "defects" in order to study screening phenomena. This goal will be achieved by finding gravity solutions with back-reacting D-branes, by means of a particular “smearing technique”. Once the solutions are found, standard AdS/CFT techniques allow to calculate physical observables of the dual Condensed Matter problems. Subsequently, other relevant strongly coupled Condensed Matter systems will be analyzed, which are suitable to be investigated in the dual String Theory framework. The proposed line of research, besides widening the horizon of applications and the theoretical foundations of the AdS/CFT correspondence, has the potential of providing new insights in some of the most interesting Condensed Matter problems. So far, the investigation in this field has been mainly driven by scientists working in U.S. Institutes. This project aims at contributing to the very important task of reinstating a leading role of the European research in this relevant subject.

Keywords: theoretical physics,string theory,ads/cft correspondence,condensed matter physics
Biochemical characterization of the Arabidopsis ABC transporter AtABCB14 and exploring why it exhibits an import activity (ABC TRANSPORTER)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: International Incoming Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-07-01
End date: 2012-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 174065.2
EU funding (EUR): 174065.2
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana is predicted to encode 129 ABC proteins, which are involved in many physiological processes such as transport of metabolites, toxic substance, and regulation of stomatal movement (Martinoia et al., 2001; Rea, 2007). The ABC protein AtABCB14 is implicated in the regulation of stomatal movement by transporting malate into guard cells (Lee et al. 2008). This is only the second plant ABC transporter shown to act as an importer and no animal counterpart has been shown to exhibit an import activity. The goal of this project is to carry out a detailed analysis of AtABCB14. To do this I will i) Characterize the kinetics and the substrate activities of AtABCB14; ii) Use site-directed mutagenesis and substrate-dependent ATP-hydrolysis to investigate whether the import activity is ATP-dependent; iii) Carry out experiments to find structural determinants which are responsible for the import activity of this ABC transporter. The identification of the biochemical properties and the import mechanism of AtABCB14 will be helpful to understand why only plants have ABC transporters exhibiting import activity. Furthermore, the identification of factors responsible for the import activity may provide important information to the medical field and cancer research.

Keywords: natural sciences,abc transporter,importer,organic acid
Exploiting the potential use of compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) in marine environment (EXPLOIT-CSIA)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Intra-European Fellowships
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF, 2009)
Start date: 2010-09-01
End date: 2012-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 240289.6
EU funding (EUR): 240289.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In recent years, a relatively new technique, compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) has begun to be applied in a novel way to apportion sources of contaminants in the environment and answer to a variety of biogeochemical questions. The originality of this proposal will be to explore, develop and exploit the potential use of Compound Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA) to persistent hydrocarbons (PAHs) and persistent organic pollutant (POPs) compound groups in marine environments in order to unambiguously allocate and distinguish their contaminant sources, track their contamination pathways (“environmental forensics”), identify and quantify transformation reactions, chemical or biological remediation processes as well as degradation mechanisms. Research will include both field and laboratory experiments studies. It will be a novel and exciting part of this project the determination of the isotopic signature of chlorine and bromine in addition to the more frequently used carbon and hydrogen isotopic characterization. Potential of combined stable isotopic systems will be also investigated. New extraction, enrichment and clean up methods will be developed or improved, and consequently protocol procedures established, to overcome the poor sensitivity of this technique for the analysis of organic compounds at trace levels and constrain specific compounds&apos; isotopic composition. Modifications of the original isotopic composition through biodegradation and/or metabolic processes will be monitored in chamber experiments. The observation of different C, H, Cl, Br isotopic signatures in marine compartments could be very useful for modelling the dynamic of POPs which is a big challenge for 21st century. A better understanding of pollutant inputs, pathways, processing and bioavailability in marine environment will facilitate remediation efforts in contaminated areas and environmental management decisions.

Keywords: compound specific isotope analysis,ocean,marine environment,hydrocarbons,pahs,oil-spill,pops,metabolic pathways,degradation,modelling