Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Targeting cancer using evolutionary refined pathogen derived antigens (MALONCO)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Diagnostic Tools, Therapies and Public Health
Countries involved: Denmark,Canada
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-09-01
End date: 2019-08-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1998800.0
EU funding (EUR): 1998800.0
Participants: 2
Project status: CLOSED

We have recently discovered a malaria protein which has shown a high potential in cancer treatment. In pregnant women, malaria infected red blood cells express a protein that binds to a distinct carbohydrate structure present only on cells of the maternal side of the placental circulation, but not elsewhere in the vasculature. This highly evolved binding system enables the parasite to evade clearance and infect placental tissue, causing pregnancy-associated malaria. This malaria protein binds to most cancer cells with a highly specific and strong interaction. It is apparent that cancer cells commonly express this modified glycoprotein, also found on placental cells, but rarely on normal somatic cells. The carbohydrate structures enable cancer cells to migrate and invade surrounding normal tissue, and to play a role in metastatic spread of the primary lesion. I have preliminary data showing that (1) the malaria protein binds specifically to a wide range of cancer cells and patient cancer tissues including melanoma, lymphoma, carcinomas and sarcomas, whereas no binding is detected to normal healthy cells or tissue, and (2) cancer cells treated with the malaria protein have markedly reduced growth and migration capacity. This raises the intriguing possibility that we can use this naturally refined parasite-host interaction mechanism as a tool to specifically target cancer and inhibit the metastatic potential. Furthermore, as the malaria protein binds strongly to patient-derived cancer tissues, the malaria protein could be used to differentiate between specific subtypes of cancers and possibly advance the diagnostic process in clinical settings. The proposed project augments a novel strategy of targeting a wide range of receptors involved in human disease using pathogen derived evolutionary refined ligands. I expect this project to pioneer the use of inherently refined parasite-host interactions as a tool to combat human malignant disease.

Keywords: cancer,proteoglycans,chondroitinsulfate,pfemp1,var2csa,malaria
Black Carbon in the Atmosphere: Emissions, Aging and Cloud Interactions (BLACARAT)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Earth System Science
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-03-01
End date: 2019-02-28
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1992015.0
EU funding (EUR): 1992015.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Atmospheric aerosol particles have been shown to impact the earth's climate because they scatter and absorb solar radiation (direct effect) and because they can modify the microphysical properties of clouds by acting as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nuclei (indirect effects). Radiative forcing by anthropogenic aerosols remains poorly quantified, thus leading to considerable uncertainty in our understanding of the earth’s climate response to the radiative forcing by greenhouse gases. Black carbon (BC), mostly emitted by anthropogenic combustion processes and biomass burning, is an important component of atmospheric aerosols. Estimates show that BC may be the second strongest contributor (after CO2) to global warming. Adverse health effects due to particulate air pollution have also been associated with traffic-related BC particles. These climate and health effects brought BC emission reductions into the political focus of possible mitigation strategies with immediate and multiple benefits for human well-being. Laboratory experiments aim at the physical and chemical characterisation of BC emissions from diesel engines and biomass burning under controlled conditions. A mobile laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art aerosol sensors will be used to determine the contribution of different BC sources to atmospheric BC loadings, and to investigate the evolution of the relevant BC properties with atmospheric aging during transport from sources to remote areas. The interactions of BC particles with clouds as a function of BC properties will be investigated with in-situ measurements by operating quantitative single particle instruments behind a novel sampling inlet, which makes selective sampling of interstitial, cloud droplet residual or ice crystal residual particles possible. Above experimental studies aim at improving our understanding of BC’s atmospheric life cycle and will be used in model simulations for quantitatively assessing the atmospheric impacts of BC.

Keywords: black carbon,nanoparticle,aerosol-cloud interaction,direct climate effect,indirect climate effect,cloud condensation nuclei,ice nuclei,light absorption enhancement,mixing state
Single Molecule Investigations in Living E. coli (SMILE)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
Countries involved: Sweden
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2019-03-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2398823.0
EU funding (EUR): 2398823.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

The overall ambition is to make intracellular measurements that bridge the gap between quantitative physical models and biological observations, in order to identify and resolve inconsistencies in our current understanding of life at the molecular level. We are particularly interested in answering fundamental questions about how the molecules that regulate gene expression and DNA replication operate in the intracellular environment. These questions include how transcription factors and RNA polymerases have evolved to rapidly find and bind their specific binding sites on chromosomal DNA, how the initiation of DNA replication is coordinated with cell growth, how cells can filter out leakage during replication of repressed genes, and other questions related to how the physical limitations of molecular interactions constrain cellular regulation. Answering these questions requires better methods to study intracellular kinetics at high spatial and temporal resolution. For this purpose we will develop single-molecule methods to probe kinetics without perturbing the system. The project depends on development in five different fields (1) new labeling methods using unnatural amino acids, (2) new hardware solutions for single molecule tracking, (3) new microfluidic designs for controlled growth conditions and image analysis, (4) new computational tools to extract the maximal amount of information from many short single molecule trajectories and (5) accurate ways of computing synthetic microscopy images. In addressing the specific questions stated above the experiments are necessarily combined with biophysical modeling that makes it possible to tell if the experimental results are expected from the previously known interactions and physical limitations due to for example stochasticity, slow diffusion and confined geometries. Overall the project is unique in its ambition to make a physically consistent quantitative description of central processes of life at the molecular level.

Keywords: single molecule,e. coli,transcription factor,replication initiation,sted microscopy,super resolution,micro-fluidics,single particle tracking,labeling,molecular dynamics,image analysis
Precision Cosmological Parameters (COSMOPARS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Universe Sciences
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-05-01
End date: 2020-04-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1372496.0
EU funding (EUR): 1372496.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Proposal summary (half page, possibly copy/paste abstract from the administrative form A1) Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) allow us to see 98% of the way to the big bang, back to a time when the Universe was only a few hundred thousand years old. Other forthcoming data will probe the more local universe in great detail. To test different possible universe models we need accurate theoretical predictions for this data in each model, and new sampling methods to solve the inference problem. CMB data is most powerful if combined with information from other sources, allowing us to test many possible models of the universes and constrain cosmological parameters. As more models and parameters can be constrained, and higher precision means that more small uncertain corrections need to be consistently modelled, the problem of inference becomes challenging. I propose to develop ground-breaking new sampling methods for testing models with many parameters. To do this I will find novel sampling techniques, make efficient use of qualitatively different properties of different parameters, and develop a new parallelized sampling code that can be run on-demand in the cloud, leveraging the power of potentially vast and cheap cloud computing facilities and freeing up dedicated supercomputers for the problems where they are really needed. In addition my team will develop new accurate theoretical predictions for confrontation with data, including analysis of new non-linear processes that will be a major source of confusion for dark energy and early universe studies, as well as correlations between different data sets. I am applying for 70% of my time and two ERC postdocs to tackle these challenges.
Neuro-Plasmonics (NEURO-PLASMONICS)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Condensed Matter Physics
Countries involved: Italy
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-04-01
End date: 2018-03-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1388000.0
EU funding (EUR): 1388000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Research neuronal signaling is the subject of a very large community, but progresses face a dense multi-scale dynamics involving signaling at the molecular, cellular and large neuronal network levels. Whereas the brain capabilities are most likely emerging from large neuronal networks, available electrophysiological methods limit our access to single cells and typically provides only a fragmented observation, on limited spatial/temporal scales. Therefore, broadening the spectrum of scales for observing neuronal signaling within large neuronal networks is a major challenge that can revolutionize our capability of studying the brain and its physio-pathological functions, as well as of deriving bio-inspired concepts to implement artificial system based on neuronal circuits. We propose the development of an innovative electro-plasmonic multifunctional platform that by combining different methodologies emerging from distant fields of Science and Technology will provide a radically new path for real time neurointerfacing at different scale levels: 1. The molecular scale: 3D plasmonic nanoantennas will give access to information at molecular level by means of enhanced spectroscopies with particular regard of time resolved Raman scattering. 2. The single-neuron scale within neuronal networks: by both in-cell and extra-cell couplings with 3D nanostructures which work at the same time as plasmonic antennas and CMOS 3D nanoelectrodes. 3. The scale of large neuronal networks: by CMOS high-density electrode arrays for spatially and temporally resolving neuronal signaling form thousands of measuring sites. This is achieved by exploiting an innovative nanofabrication method able to realize 3D nanostructures which can work at the same time as plasmonic nanoantennas and as nanoelectrodes. These structures will be integrated on CMOS multi-electrode arrays designed to manage multiscale measurements from the molecular level up to network level on several thousand of measurement sites.

Keywords: nanofabrication,plasmonics,neuroscience,neuroelectronics,raman spectroscopy.
Regulation of DNA damage responses at the replication fork (DDREGULATION)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Molecular and Structural Biology and Biochemistry
Countries involved: Denmark
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2019-12-31
Duration (months): 66.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1996356.0
EU funding (EUR): 1996356.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

This project aims at delineating the regulatory signaling processes that enable cells to overcome DNA damage during DNA replication, a major challenge to the integrity of the genome as the normal replication machinery is unable to replicate past DNA lesions. This may result in collapse of the replication fork, potentially giving rise to gross genomic alterations. To mitigate this threat, all cells have evolved DNA damage bypass strategies such as translesion DNA synthesis (TLS), involving low fidelity DNA polymerases that can replicate damaged DNA, albeit in an error-prone manner, offering a trade-off between limited mutagenesis and gross chromosomal instability. How DNA damage bypass pathways are regulated and integrated with DNA replication and repair remain poorly resolved questions fundamental to understanding genome stability maintenance and disease onset. Regulatory signaling mediated by the small modifier protein ubiquitin has a prominent role in orchestrating the reorganization of the replication fork necessary for overcoming DNA lesions, but this involvement has not been systematically explored. To remedy these gaps in our knowledge, I propose to implement a series of innovative complementary strategies to isolate and identify the regulatory factors and ubiquitin-dependent processes that promote DNA damage responses at the replication fork, allowing for subsequent in-depth characterization of their roles in protecting genome integrity by targeted functional studies. This project will enable an advanced level of mechanistic insight into key regulatory processes underlying replication-associated DNA damage responses that has not been feasible to achieve with exisiting methodologies, providing a realistic outlook for groundbreaking discoveries that will open up many new avenues for further research into mechanisms and biological functions of regulatory signaling processes in the DNA damage response and beyond.

Keywords: ubiquitin,dna damage response,translesion dna synthesis (tls),regulatory cell signaling,screens,mass spectrometry,replication stress,genome stability
Water, Ions, Interfaces: Quantum effects, charge and cooperativity in water, aqueous solutions and interfaces (WII)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Countries involved: Switzerland
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-11-01
End date: 2019-10-31
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999983.6
EU funding (EUR): 1999983.6
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Sixty percent of the human body consists of water. Water provides the 3D-network for life’s constituents. In a cell there are many interfaces: the average distance between two molecules or a molecule and a membrane interfaces is ~1 nm. Water and the interfaces it interacts with are of paramount importance for biological processes. The structural, dynamic, and biological properties of water, aqueous systems and aqueous interfaces are essential in understanding the complexity of life, and our ability to harness its features for novel technologies. Waters’ 3D hydrogen bonded network is important for nearly all the macroscopic properties of water. The network is cooperative, yet it rearranges itself every few femtoseconds, and quantum level interactions determine its properties. Understanding the role water plays in living systems therefore requires information from the quantum level/femtosecond time scale up to the macroscopic level/time scale. Therefore, understanding water remains a considerable challenge. I propose to investigate the structural, dynamic, and biological properties of water by probing the relationship between the properties of water on vastly different length and time scales. We will investigate quantum effects in water and on interfaces, and study long-range ordering (up from the femtosecond time scale). Furthermore, we will map how ions, hydrophilic, and hydrophobic solutes influence waters structural correlations and water-mediated interactions. Thus, we will use a worldwide unique multiscale toolbox that has for the most part been recently developed in my lab. We will map aqueous solutions by probing the structure of hydration shells, nanoscopic order and correlations between water molecules and viscosity. Interfacial structural and dynamical changes will be measured by mapping the surface chemical composition and conformation, the surface charge, and the electrokinetic mobility of nanodroplets.

Keywords: sum frequency generation,second harmonic generation,nonlinear optics,water,ions,interfaces
Engineering Bio-inspired Materials for Biosensing and Regenerative Medicine (NATURALE CG)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Synthetic Chemistry and Materials
Countries involved: United Kingdom
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-07-01
End date: 2019-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1999460.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999460.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

In Naturale CG I propose transformative bioengineering approaches that will overcome severe limitations in current materials in two main areas, namely 1) Biosensing and 2) Regenerative Medicine. A key focus is on understanding and engineering the biomaterial interface using innovative designs and state of the art materials characterisation methods. Firstly I aim to transform the way that we can currently detect disease through innovations in the design and development of nanomaterials-based biosensors that could be used to detect a number of diseases with global implications, such as cancer, malaria, heart failure and tuberculosis. These innovations in biosensor design will involve both building on our existing highly successful work on plasmonic biosensors and also involve the design and development of completely new polymersome and fluorescent based biosensors. Another key aim of Naturale CG is to design first in kind biosensors for the facile detection of microRNAs. Secondly, the goal of regenerating failing organs before the body as a whole is ready to surrender, is now timelier than ever and one in which the design of new bio-inspired materials can play an important role. In Naturale CG I will build on my previous research in the design of 3-dimensional tissue engineering scaffolds and address an important new direction in the engineering of new bio-inspired conducting polymers as tissue engineering materials to promote cardiac tissue regeneration. First-in-field biomaterials-based innovations generated from this programme could enable far more effective regeneration of functional myocardial tissue which has been notoriously difficult to achieve thus far. Whilst I will lead this grant and the research within it, the proposed innovations are truly multidisciplinary in nature and will be accelerated towards clinical translation through the numerous clinical, scientific and industrial collaborations that I have established.

Keywords: biosensing,tissue engineering,regenerative medicine
Phylogenetic ANalysis of Diversification Across the tree of life (PANDA)

Framework: FP7 — Ideas
Programme: European Research Council
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: Support for frontier research (ERC)
Panel: Evolutionary, Population and Environmental Biology
Countries involved: France
Call:  (ERC-2013-CoG, 2013)
Start date: 2014-06-01
End date: 2020-05-31
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1857856.0
EU funding (EUR): 1857856.0
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

Explaining the tremendous disparity in the number of species among different taxonomic groups and geographic regions is one of the greatest challenges in biodiversity research. This project aims to significantly advance our fundamental understanding of the ecological and evolutionary processes that explain how species richness is distributed on earth and in the tree of life. The first part of the project consists in significantly improving phylogenetic approaches to diversification. This implies developing stochastic lineage-based birth-death models that account for species interactions, stochastic lineage-based birth-death models integrating phylogenetic and fossil information, and stochastic individual-based birth-death-speciation models. The second part of the project consists in implementing these models, as well as other recently developed models, in efficient and user-friendly software packages. Finally, the third part of the project consists in applying these phylogenetic tools to large datasets spanning the tree of life in order to understand how and why speciation and extinction rates vary over evolutionary time, geographical space, and species groups. We will use our new phylogenetic comparative methods to uncover diversity-through-time curves for a wide variety of taxonomic groups, evaluate the relative role of the biotic and the abiotic environment in driving diversification, shed new light on the latitudinal diversity gradient, and consider microbial diversity with a macroevolutionary perspective. The proposed research will provide the scientific community with novel, user-friendly modeling tools for understanding biodiversity, and will yield unprecedented insights into the dynamics and determinants of biodiversity.

Keywords: macroevolution,comparative phylogenetics,evolutionary ecology