Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Nudix hydrolases in Cancer Therapy (NCAT)

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: Sweden
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2012)
Start date: 2013-08-12
End date: 2015-08-11
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 197811.6
EU funding (EUR): 197811.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cancer is the activation of dysfunctional pathways leading to abnormal behaviour of cells. A hallmark of cancer is genomic instability, triggered by a range of DNA lesions such as 8-oxo-G, caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are generated by the cell’s metabolism and are crucial for its homeostasis. However, excessive ROS levels can induce DNA lesions resulting in increased mutations, fuelling genetic instability favouring carcinogenesis. Free dNTP are more easily damaged by ROS and are cleared from the nucleotide pool by dNTP pyrophosphatases and the nucleoside diphosphate linked moiety X family (Nudix) hydrolases, consisting of 22 members. These highly specialized proteins hydrolyse oxidized lesions such as 8-oxodGTP present in the nucleotide pool, thus preventing the incorporation of oxidized nucleotides into the RNA or the DNA. Cancer cells sustain abnormally high levels of ROS generated by deregulated metabolism and protein translation. Preliminary data from the host laboratory suggest that the Nudix hydrolase MTH1 is overexpressed in cancer and that cancer cells require its catalytic activity for survival. This is interesting, as normal cells do not rely on MTH1 for survival. Small molecule inhibitors from the host laboratory targeting MTH1, effectively kill transforming cells but not the parental immortalized cells. Thus, I hypothesize that the Nudix hydrolases may play important roles in cancer, and that insight into this pathway can be exploited to design novel anti-cancer strategies. The functions of a large portion of the 22 Nudix hydrolases are unknown. The objective of this project is to determine the biological and biochemical roles of all the Nudix hydrolases in cancer, including resistance and relapse, and thereby identify potential novel targets for cancer therapy and biomarkers. This will be achieved by using established technology at the host institute such as synthetic lethality screens, and by developing a novel 3D multiparametric assay

Keywords: nudix hydrolases,nucleotide pool,dna damage,cancer metabolism,cancer therapy
Innate intracellular blocks to HIV-1 in New World monkeys (HIVMARMOD)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 75000.0
EU funding (EUR): 75000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Currently there are approximately 33.4 million people living with HIV-1 worldwide and it is estimated that every year AIDS claims about 2-3 million deaths while HIV-1 is responsible for an equal number of new infections. In spite of the advances in the fight against HIV-1 since the isolation of the virus in 1983, there is still no vaccine available for the prevention of HIV-1 infection, and so far the available therapies have failed to eradicate the virus. The use of animal models for the development of vaccines, testing of new antiviral drugs, and studies of pathogenesis has been invaluable. The presence of several barriers to HIV-1 replication in cells of many species narrows the species tropism of HIV-1 to humans and chimpanzees. The most widely used animal model for AIDS is the infection of Asian macaques by simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) or simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) chimerae. The development of models in which the host animal can be infected with more HIV-1-like viruses is a worthy goal. Such a new animal model would be useful for studying viral pathogenesis and for testing antiviral therapies and vaccines. Here, we propose to study the host cell restriction factors that block the replication of HIV-1 in common marmoset cells, with the long term goal of developing a new animal model for HIV-1 infection using the common marmoset, a New World monkey, as a host animal.

Keywords: l608 virology,l101 molecular biology and interactions,l601 innate immunity,hiv,animal models,restriction factors
COMBINATIONAL USE OF INNATE IMMUNE RECEPTORS FOR CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY (PRR IN IMMUNOTHERAPY)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-06-01
End date: 2017-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Cancer is a major scientific and economical challenge that our society has to face and new therapeutic approaches should now be evaluated in order to decrease human and financial cost of this disease. After suffering from many drawbacks, cancer immunotherapy, which aims at mobilizing the immune system to fight cancer, has recently gained enthusiasm with the completion of several randomized phase III clinical trials. Because of their ability to trigger the innate immune responses, ligands for pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) have been included in several vaccination protocols. These approaches, however, have unveiled new hurdles. Here we propose to investigate a new approach for cancer immunotherapy in Human, based on the use of PRR ligand-containing tumor cells. We have recently shown that introducing the bacterial protein flagellin into tumor cells stimulates innate immune cells and induces a tumor-specific adaptive immunity. Flagellin recognition by myeloid cells engages three distinct PRRs, but subsequent molecular mechanisms controlling presentation of tumor-associated antigens to T lymphocytes are still poorly defined. In addition, the precise nature of adaptive immune responses that efficiently eradicate tumor cells still needs to be precisely characterized before developing pre-clinical trials in Humans. In this context, flagellin-expressing tumor cells represent a powerful tool to uncover fundamental questions on the control of the adaptive immunity by the innate immune system, which will be necessary for the development of new anti-tumor immunotherapies.

Keywords: cancer,immunotherapy,pattern-recognition receptors,dendritic cells,pre-clinical trial,helper t lymphocytes,l601 innate immunity,l603 phagocytosis and cellular immunity,l604 immunosignalling
Determining the Impact of Seawater Chemistry on the Solubility of Atmospheric Trace metals (DISCOSAT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Bioactive trace metal (TM) distributions in the ocean impact directly on the growth and sustainability of micro-organisms and on the marine biogeochemical cycles of bulk elements that sustain life, such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur. A primary delivery mechanism of TMs to the modern surface ocean is via atmospheric transport and deposition in aerosols and precipitation. An important linkage between the deposition of TMs and their impact on the biology of the upper ocean, lies in the proportion of TMs in aerosols that dissolve and becomes available to biota. Critical physico-chemical variables in seawater have the potential to affect TM dissolution (i.e. temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and metal binding ligands) and there is a requirement to investigate their effects to better constrain global biogeochemical models. These physico-chemical variables are known to vary considerably between different geographically regions in the current upper ocean. Furthermore, their spatial variability is predicted to be substantially altered in the next few centuries due to global change. The DISCOSAT (Determining the Impact of Seawater Chemistry On the Solubility of Atmospheric Trace metals) project will test the extent to which changes to the physico-chemical composition of surface seawater (within environmentally relevant ranges) have a significant impact on the dissolution of TMs from aerosols. The project will use a range of representative North Atlantic subtropical and temperate aerosol and seawater samples and incorporate state of the art analytical and aerosol TM processing techniques to simulate dissolution processes.

Keywords: c131 environment chemistry,v201 biogeochemistry - biogeochemical cycles - environmental chemistry,v201 atmospheric chemistry - air pollution,c106 analytical chemistry
The Role of SETD6 Methyltransferase in the Modulation of Oncogenic Processes (K-METHYLATION)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-09-01
End date: 2017-08-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

My overarching goal is to investigate the importance of protein post-translational modification (PTM) networks in cancer. The signaling system defined by the PTM lysine methylation has recently emerged as a potential key regulator of cancer pathways. However, the mechanisms by which protein lysine methyltransferase (PKMT) enzymes contribute to cancer are poorly understood. I believe that characterizing novel PKMTs involved in the post-translational control of cellular proteins in cancer-relevant signaling networks can provide novel insights into the basic mechanisms of cellular transformation and identify new therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. SETD6 is a PKMT whose expression is dramatically down-regulated in a wide range of human cancers. During my postdoctoral work, we identified SETD6 as a key regulator of proliferation processes by modulating the NFKB signaling pathway and deciphered the molecular mechanism for this regulation. However, knowledge of the overall mode of action of SETD6 in cancer cells and of additional endogenous substrates of this enzyme is still obscure. The working hypothesis is that SETD6 methylation of key cellular substrates modulates cancer pathology. In this research I plan to utilize cellular, biochemical, genomic and a novel proteomic experimental platform I developed to elucidate the role of SETD6 in oncogenic processes and its involvement in the modulation of cellular signaling pathways linked to cancer; to characterize new methylation events catalyzed by SETD6; to understand how these marks are generated and under which specific physiological conditions; to elucidate how these marks are sensed by other cellular factors; and to decipher the molecular mechanisms that transduce these signals. I believe that this work will provide significant insight into the role of SETD6 in the modulation of oncogenic signaling processes with a long term plan to translate this knowledge into therapeutic applications in the future.

Keywords: setd6,lysine methylation,cancer,pak4
Hydro-fracture in the laboratory: matching diagnostic seismic signals to fracture networks via new rock physics experiments (FRACSEIS)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-03-01
End date: 2017-02-28
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Fluids are a ubiquitous element of the Earth system, whether shallow aquifers, deeper crustal fluids (meteoric water, hydrothermal fluid and hydrocarbons), or deep fluids implicated in subduction zones via dehydration reactions. However, our understanding of the stresses imparted by fluids in the shallow crust (2 km) and how these over-pressurize the surrounding rock via the process of hydrofracture is not yet fully understood, especially in anisotropic rocks. In recent years, this topic has been the subject of much scientific interest in the light of the new opportunities surrounding the production of natural gas via shale reservoirs that must necessarily be fractured in order to release the gas in a controversial process known as ‘fracking’. This process has attracted considerable attention from the media, policy makers and the engineering community due to the challenges it poses. The scenario above is further complicated by the fact that shale rock layers are anisotropic in nature, both in strength and in terms of material physical properties, making any assessment of how and where fracture propagate difficult. In addition, the use of active pore fluids (via temperature or acidity level) adds yet another factor to the process, especially from an engineering perspective. To investigate these issues, the FRACSEIS project aims to replicate the process in an laboratory environment that will allow stress, fluid pressure and temperature to be controlled. Measurements of the resulting seismicity (known as acoustic emission, AE) will then be made to generate an advanced “geophysical image” of the process for various types of shale rock, and different environmental conditions. Specifically the methods of AE location, P-wave tomography, and post-test X-ray computed tomography will all be employed in order to better understand how the fracture patterns evolve in space and time and with respect to the anisotropy of the rock and the imposed environmental conditions.

Keywords: v201 geology - tectonics - volcanology,v201 environmental engineering and geotechnics,v101 environment and sustainability
AUTOMORPHISMS AND PERIODIC POINTS FOR MULTIDIMENSIONAL SHIFTS OF FINITE TYPE (APPMSFT)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-10-01
End date: 2017-09-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Within the framework of Symbolic Dynamics, we propose to study the automorphisms of Multidimensional Shifts of Finite Type. We propose to explore certain algebraic invariants, analogous to the Dimension-Representation and the Gyration Numbers for automorphisms of one-dimensional Shifts of Finite Type. Our aim is to utilize the above invariants and confront certain natural problems related to these automorphisms: Extending an automorphism of a finite subsystem and generating an automorphism by finite-order ``eventual automorphisms''. Our project has direct implications in the context of Multidimensional Cellular Automata. Namely, the existence of block representation for multidimensional invertible cellular automata and the admissibility of a given set periodic orbits in a multidimensional invertible cellular automata.

Keywords: symbolic dynamics,cellular automata,ergodic theory
Electronic Transport in Topological Insulator Hybrid Devices (TI HYBRID DEVICES)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Israel
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-07-01
End date: 2017-06-30
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The proposal outlines an experimental program targeted at fabricating and investigating high quality electronic devices based on Topological Insulators (TIs). The program relies on a fabrication technique based on stacking of exfoliated single crystals in an inert atmosphere. The devices proposed are few layer heterostructures including TIs, graphene, and dielectrics such as hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN). This technique allows for diverse types of devices, with the potential of addressing a broad range of physical effects. One such device is the TI-hBN heterostructure, which can serve as a field-effect device, where preliminary data shows an unprecedented level of tunability of a high mobility surface. These devices will allow the investigation of transport effects such the Quantum Hall Effect, the TI-superconductor proximity effect, and investigations on the role of interactions in TI surface transport. Other devices proposed are TI-graphene hybrids, where the TI can serve as a spin-injection element, and TI interfaces with materials hosting more exotic phases. The program is aimed at creating a fundamentally new set of capabilities which would open new avenues of research in condensed matter physics.

Keywords: p204 transport properties of condensed matter,p205 electronic properties of materials and transport,p207 semiconductors,p208 superconductivity,p212 nanophysics,p213 mesoscopic physics
Towards an efficient mobile Internet (MOBILENET)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: Spain
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2013-06-01
End date: 2017-05-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

It is expected that, very soon, the Internet will connect billions of mobile device users. This places high demands on the communications infrastructure and on the mobile devices. Specifically, future networks should support heterogeneous wired and wireless network technologies, be dynamic yet robust, offer high data rates, and use resources (such as bandwidth or energy) as efficiently as possible. Future mobile devices should be small and have low energy-consumption while offering high functionality. To explore how to use the resources in future communication networks in the most efficient way, I will derive information-theoretic limits of communication networks and suggest communication strategies that attain those limits. Such limits have been studied extensively in the past. However, the majority of the work has made simplifying assumptions, such as that the nodes are perfectly synchronized, have perfect channel state information, or use infinitely long codewords, which are not realistic for wireless and dynamic networks. In this project, I will derive realistic fundamental limits by including asynchronism, noncoherence, and latency constraints in my analysis. I will then propose communication strategies that attain these fundamental limits. A related topic addressed in this project is the design of mobile devices. Using tools from information theory, I will study the fundamental tradeoff between performance, robustness against nonlinearities in the devices, and implementation complexity, aiming at novel encoding and decoding algorithms that can be implemented efficiently in hardware.

Keywords: g107 theoretical computer science including quantum information,g208 networks,information theory,communication theory
Studies on the role of Plk1 localization and activity in the regulation of microtubule dynamics during mitosis (MITDYN)

Framework: FP7 — People
Programme: Marie-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Life-long training and career development
Action type: Support for training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie)
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG, 2012)
Start date: 2014-01-01
End date: 2017-12-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 100000.0
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Mitosis is a critical phase of the cell cycle where chromosome are equally partitioned to daughter cells using the structure and forces from the mitotic spindle apparatus to power this process. The spindle is made of hundreds of dynamic microtubule polymers. Within the spindle, subpopulations of microtubules are tightly controlled by microtubule associated proteins and signaling gradients to achieve distinct properties and functions. Small perturbations to microtubules dynamics or these regulatory players can profoundly affect chromosome segregation and is associated with aneuploidy and genomic instability. Although many mitotic players have been identified, quantitative and mechanistic views of how they are regulated to control microtubule dynamics are missing. I propose to quantitatively define how different mitotic microtubule subpopulations are regulated in a space and time dependent manner. I have identified the kinetochore and centrosome-localized kinase Plk1 as a key factor in modulating microtubule dynamics. Using cell biology, advanced quantitative analysis and biochemistry, we will identify Plk1 substrates that modulate microtubule dynamics throughout mitosis. In addition, we will examine how a Plk1 locally regulates microtubules to create different microtubule populations. These studies will inform how genomic fidelity and chromosome segregation are ensured through maintaining accurate local and global microtubule dynamics.

Keywords: l302 cell biology and molecular transport mechanisms