Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Generating monoclonal antibodies that selectively and specifically recognize epitranscriptomic modifications. (EPIMODKIT)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy
Panel description: The immune system, related disorders and their mechanisms, biology of infectious agents and infection, biological basis of prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, innovative immunological tools and approaches, including therapies
Countries involved: Germany,Germany
Call: Call for proposals for ERC Proof of Concept Grant (ERC-2020-PoC, 2020)
Start date: 2020-07-01
End date: 2021-12-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 171428.57
EU funding (EUR): 100000.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

Epitranscriptomic modifications constitute specific marks in mRNA that regulate gene expression. Identification of epitranscriptomic modifications requires next generation sequencing analyses and specific validation, processes that are cumbersome and time consuming. Furthermore, while some modifications are straightforward to identify, as they cause specific base changes (like RNA editing), most are only detectable either through chemical means (requiring large quantities of material) or by immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing. Of these techniques, immunoprecipitation requires far less material and can be used in any molecular biology laboratory, but depends exquisitely on the quality of the monoclonal antibodies that recognize the modification - their specificity, selectivity and sensitivity. Most anti-modification antibodies are generated using traditional methods for the production of monoclonals to small molecule haptens (e.g. conjugation to a large protein carrier and injection into animals together with an adjuvant). While these methods can generate anti-hapten responses with some specificity they are generally not very selective. We have developed a novel immunization platform that exquisitely focuses the antibody response to a hapten to generate high affinity monoclonals with a high degree of specificity. We propose to employ this approach to generate anti-inosine antibodies (for the detection of editing in disease contexts); anti-m6A antibodies (which would be benchmarked against the ones currently in use, validating our approach); and antipseudo-uridine antibodies (a tool that is lacking in the field and for which traditional approaches have completely failed). The generation of specific and selective antibodies to these three modifications, will open the way toward a better understanding of their intricate molecular roles in biological proceGenerating monoclonal antibodies that selectively and specifically recognize epitranscriptomic modifications.

Keywords: rna editing,rna modification,epitranscriptomic modifications,anti modification antibodies
A Planetary Inventory of Life – a New Synthesis Built on Big Data Combined with Novel Statistical Methods (LIFEPLAN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Synergy grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: Madagascar,Finland,Finland,Sweden,United States
Call: ERC Synergy Grant (ERC-2019-SyG, 2019)
Start date: 2020-04-01
End date: 2026-03-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 12620310.0
EU funding (EUR): 12620310.0
Participants: 5
Project status: SIGNED

Biodiversity underlies ecosystem functioning. To achieve the basis for a sustainable management of natural resources under current environmental change, we thus need a unified theory of the forces structuring vast sets of ecosystems and taxonomical groups on Earth. For the first time, such a synthesis is now within reach, based on a recent revolution in sampling methodology, globally relevant ecological data, and advances in statistical methods for linking immense data to community ecological theory. In LIFEPLAN, we bring together the key expertise needed to generate and interpret Big Ecological Data for a global synthesis of biotic patterning across our planet: world leaders in community ecology, methods for automated species recognition, and Bayesian statistics for immense data. Our objectives are to generate a new understanding of biodiversity patterns and dynamics by developing fundamentally new methods for big data statistics. To this end, we will generate fully standardized, global big data on a range of species groups, thus allowing quantification of variation in ecological communities at spatial scales covering six orders of magnitude (from 0.1 km to 10000 km), across tens of thousands of species. The resulting data motivate the development of transformative big data statistics, in particular highly scalable algorithms for spatio-temporal data, as well as methods for automated species identification from DNA, audio and image samples. As a key deliverable, we will develop global joint species distribution models describing the spatio-temporal structure of life on Earth. Working together will allow each of us to tackle what we regard as the ultimate challenges in our own fields, while simultaneously collaborating around solutions changing the face of modern biodiversity science. Now is the time for this project, as the big data and big methods emerging today coincide with a great need for global understanding of biodiversity structure and dynamics.

Keywords: global patterning of life,big data science,automated species recognition,high throughput data generation,community ecology,biodiversity science,bayesian statistics,scalable methods,hierarchical patterns and processes,joint species distribution modelling
Substrate Selectivity in the Ubiquitin-Dependent Response to DNA Damage (DDRDegronDiscovery)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Individual Fellowships (IF)-Reintegration panel
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Denmark
Call: Individual Fellowships (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020, 2020)
Start date: 2021-11-01
End date: 2024-02-13
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 207312.0
EU funding (EUR): 207312.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Weak and transient protein-protein interactions are essential for cellular homeostasis but are challenging to study and therefore incompletely understood. Many of these interactions involve globular domains that recognize a short linear motif (SLiM) in disordered regions of interacting proteins. E3 ubiquitin ligases frequently use this principle of interaction to recognize their substrates. The conjugation of ubiquitin chains to a substrate often serves as a signal for degradation by the proteasome, and the recognized SLiM is therefore referred to as a degron. The ubiquitin system has a well-established critical function in genome stability maintenance, which is of fundamental importance for avoiding severe diseases such as cancer. A number of E3 ubiquitin ligases have key roles in promoting DNA damage signaling and repair pathways, but mechanistic insights into how these ubiquitin ligases recognize their substrates are lacking. This is due in large part to an absence of sensitive methods for discovery and characterization of transient E3 ligase-degron interactions. Here, I propose to apply and combine two novel methods in an innovative workflow to remedy this knowledge gap. I will use a powerful and highly sensitive novel protein-protein interaction mapping technique (SPARK2) to screen peptides derived from the disordered proteome for their interaction with E3 ligases important for genome stability maintenance. Detailed characterization of identified potential SLiMs interacting with DNA damage-responsive E3 ligases will subsequently be performed using MRBLE:pep, a novel multiplexing approach to simultaneously quantify dozens of protein-peptide affinities that I recently helped to develop. This in-depth characterization of E3 ligase degrons, together with functional studies of validated novel E3 ligase-substrate interactions, will enable unprecedented mechanistic insights into regulatory networks underlying genome stability maintenance.

Keywords: slim,degron,protein protein interaction,ubiquitin,multiplex assay
Structure and mechanism of respiratory chain molecular machines (RESPICHAIN)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Advanced grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions
Panel description: Molecular biology, biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biophysics, synthetic and chemical biology, drug design, innovative methods and modelling
Countries involved: Austria
Call: ERC ADVANCED GRANT (ERC-2020-ADG, 2020)
Start date: 2021-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1781133.0
EU funding (EUR): 1781133.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Eukaryotic life is made possible by energy production in mitochondria, where several large membrane protein complexes of the respiratory chain work in series to produce ATP. The structure and function of these complexes have been intensively studied over decades, but the mechanistic understanding is lacking due to their elaborate architecture. This proposal’s goal is to reveal the mechanism of energy transduction by the least understood of them: complex I, respiratory supercomplexes and transhydrogenase. Complex I is the largest respiratory enzyme, containing up to 45 subunits with a total mass of ~1 MDa. We have determined the first atomic structures of complex I from bacteria and mitochondria. Mammalian complex I usually exists as a supercomplex with complexes III2 and IV: we have determined the first architecture of this ~1.7 MDa physiological “unit” of respiration. The nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase couples proton motive force to mitochondrial redox homeostasis, working in tandem with the respiratory chain. We recently determined the first structure of transhydrogenase but its coupling mechanism remains controversial. Huge conformational changes are envisaged but not yet observed. The mechanism of coupling between spatially separated electron transfer and proton translocation in complex I is also a mystery. It is likewise not known why respiratory complexes are organised into supercomplexes. We will tackle all these questions by an integrative approach, solving the atomic structures of different catalytic states of the complexes by applying the latest cryo-EM methods to these extremely challenging targets. The comparison of structures, complemented by functional and computational analyses, will reveal the mechanistic basis for the function of these molecular machines, solving fundamental questions in biology. As these enzymes are involved in many severe human disorders, the acquired knowledge will also be instrumental to tackle mitochondrial diseases.

Keywords: membrane protein structure,respiratory chain,mitochondria,nadh ubiquinone oxidoreductase,complex i,cryo em,redox protein,respiratory supercomplexes,proton translocating transhydrogenase
Materials for Neuromorphic Circuits (MANIC)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Innovative Training Networks (ITN)-European Training Networks
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Spain,Switzerland,Switzerland,France,Netherlands,Netherlands,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call: Innovative Training Networks (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019, 2019)
Start date: 2019-11-01
End date: 2024-04-30
Duration (months): 54.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4128380.67
EU funding (EUR): 4128380.67
Participants: 12
Project status: SIGNED

Large efforts are invested into developing computing platforms that will be able to emulate the low power consumption, flexibility of connectivity or programming efficiency of the human brain. The most common approach so far is based on a feedback loop that includes neuroscientists, computer scientists and circuit engineers. Recent successes in this direction motivate the scientific community to start working on the next big challenge: using materials that emulate neural networks. For that, new players are needed: material scientists, who look into alternatives to silicon in order to develop basic device units, more fitting to the needs of cognitive-type processing than current transistors. We notice that recent progress in chemistry and materials sciences (atomically controlled materials) and nanotechnology (diversity of tools to probe the nanometer scale) brings exciting possibilities for novel approaches in the area of neuromorphic computing. Clearly, the type of materials, physical responses and spatial dimensions considered in the design of neuromorphic systems will crucially determine their utilization, properties and cost, and consequently their societal and economic impact. Therefore, it is urgent that chemists and materials scientists also join forces in the development of the future neuromorphic computer. MANIC aims to offer complementary expertise to current approaches by recruiting fifteen Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) and providing them with the best possible research, academic and professional training, to prepare them for the challenge of developing advanced materials with memory, plasticity and self-organization that will perform better than the current solutions to emulate neural networks and, eventually, learn.

Keywords: ferroelastic domains,domain walls,metal insulator transitions,nano ionics,memristors,ferroelectrics
STIMBOY: Your STIMulating BOt (STIMBOY)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Systems and communication engineering
Panel description: Electrical, electronic, communication, optical and systems engineering
Countries involved: Italy
Call: Call for proposals for ERC Proof of Concept Grant (ERC-2020-PoC, 2020)
Start date: 2021-05-01
End date: 2022-10-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a tool to stimulate non-invasively the brain, employed in Research and Clinics (e.g. depression, chronic pain, stroke, dementia, etc). Low spatial resolution, time-consuming rigid protocol and the continuous need of the presence of an expert has dramatically contained TMS research impact and therapeutic diffusion. STIMBOY project objectives are: 1) improve the robot-TMS developed within the ERC RESHAPE project to realize a TMS-droid (STIMBOY) that fulfills the need of automatization and extreme easiness-of-use of non-expert TMS clinical end-user (clinical configuration), and the need of precision and flexibility of TMS scientist (research configuration); 2) show the commercial feasibility of the technology (from the perspective of a cost-benefit analysis through health economics), 3) design a route to market for the technology (including market analysis and competitive landscape), 4) strengthen the IP position, 5) investigate the likely regulatory roadmap and 6) draft an exploitation plan consolidated in a business plan. Robotic TMS research (e.g. >1100 TMS papers/year indexed by PubMed) and therapeutic market-size (2.5 billion € only for drug-resistant depression) is not covered by the few commercial devices, upon which STIMBOY will have several advantages: lower size and weight, automatic neuronavigation implemented by the robot itself, wider workspace, the possibility to perform double-coil protocols, higher safety due to torque sensors embedded in each joint and innovative features of the control algorithm, higher camera frequency and better performance/cost ratio. The project is implemented by the same multidisciplinary team that developed the ERC RESHAPE robot-TMS, with the help of a consultant for exploitation. STIMBOY will make TMS therapy easier and cheaper, thus available to more citizens and will prompt neuroscience knowledge and future therapeutic applications, favoring the society as a whole.

Keywords: transcranial magnetic stimulation,neuroengineerings,cyber physical systems,robotic arms,robot control,tracking systems,neuronavigation,neuromodulation,closed loop double coils,stimulation,drug resistant depression,stroke recovery,brain connectivity and plasticity
Nematode-based screening technology for next-generation drug discovery (NeMatrix)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call: ERC-Proof of Concept-2016 (ERC-2016-PoC, 2016)
Start date: 2017-06-01
End date: 2018-11-30
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Alternative model organisms, such as worms or flies, are getting increasingly popular in the drug discovery field, since they are proving to be suitable for replacing mammals for several aspects of the screening tests in the pre-clinical phase. In this context, one of the most interesting models is a roundworm species, named Caenorhabditis elegans. Its microscopic size, however, hinders its actual use in the field, since the protocols for its maintenance and study still completely rely on manual handling/observation techniques, definitely lacking any reproducibility and throughput standards. The NeMatrix project proposes to fill this technological gap, by developing a microfluidic platform for fully automated culture and analysis of C. elegans –and, more in general, roundworms-, tailored for drug screening applications. Specifically, starting from a simple worm suspension, our envisioned prototype will employ a set of microfluidic-based automated operations to: (i) gently distribute nematodes within separate microcompartments; (ii) feed them at desired food rate, time and concentration; (iii) expose them to drug tests at desired rate, time and drug concentrations; (iv) continuously monitor multiple phenotypes over the whole worm population in the device; (v) provide real-time data analysis and store/exploit results in a “big data” approach. This project would provide one of the first examples of next-generation technologies for whole-organism drug screening, with the potential of paving the way for the widespread use of worms and other alternative model organisms for the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal testing in biomedical research and pharmaceutical industries. The project will be held in close collaboration with key industrial partners in the field, in the framework of a planned startup company, which currently is on the way of creation.

Keywords: microfluidics,microfabrication,nematodes,caenorhabditis elegans,drug discovery,high throughput screening
VALORISING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND FLEXIBILITY AT DEMAND-SIDE USING VEHICLE TO GRID (V2G) AND VEHICLE TO BUILDING (V2B) TECHNOLOGY (V2Market)

Framework: Horizon 2020 — Societal Challenges
Programme: Secure, clean and efficient energy
Theme: Reducing energy consumption and carbon foorpint by smart and sustainable use
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Spain,Spain,Belgium,Denmark,Luxembourg
Call: Enabling next-generation of smart energy services valorising energy efficiency and flexibility at demand-side (H2020-LC-SC3-EE-2020-2, 2020)
Start date: 2021-09-01
End date: 2024-08-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999858.75
EU funding (EUR): 1999857.0
Participants: 9
Project status: SIGNED

V2Market is an innovative service to incorporate the Electric Vehicles’ (EV) batteries into the electricity system as storage and flexibility capacity, using Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Building (V2B) technology combined with energy efficiency (EE) and price forecasting ICT tools. V2Market puts together all the relevant actors in the value chain to work on the definition of the role and the contractual arrangements of a new business case, the aggregator, and its different possibilities with the other key stakeholders: the EV owners, and the flexibility buyers (DSO, TSO, BRP). V2Market will tackle energy efficiency at different levels: - Efficiency at the system level, by providing flexibility services to the grid. - Efficiency at the building/end user level, by optimising energy management thanks to the incorporation of the EV battery, which will also facilitate an optimisation of the energy produced by local RES. - Efficiency resulting from the substitution of older fossil-fuel based vehicles for electric vehicles. - It will make the EV battery an independent asset (as a major cost item that needs to be managed separately). This will result in measurable energy savings and performance improvements for the overall energy system. To respond to these EE needs, V2Market will develop a comprehensive business case for aggregators based on two types of service: A – Provision of ancillary services to the grid (frequency regulation, spinning reserves, peak shifting). B – Integration of flexibility services with EE at buildings’ level. V2Market will help the aggregator to develop its business model, and use big data to tailor its services to the patterns of its pool of EV owners. This is intended to consolidate a more predictable pool of EV batteries, which can be useful to develop also contractual arrangements with the flexibility buyers and provide stability to all the transactions within the value chain.

Keywords: business models,contractual arrangements,financial schemes,vehicle to grid,flexibility,e mobility