Search for European Projects

38 European Projects Found

Searched on 125080 European Projects

 FINISHED 

Extracellular brain proteolysis in neuronal plasticity and neuropsychiatric disorders (EXTRABRAIN)

Start date: Sep 1, 2013, End date: Aug 31, 2017,

Brain disorders comprise a major burden for the society. Recent analyses of the neuropsychiatric disease-related gene polymorphisms as well as genomics and proteomics have identified the components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) in the brain as pivotal for those diseases. The ECM/CAMs span the synaptic cleft and regulate the synaptic dynamics. Furthermore, ...
Read Project

 9

 FINISHED 

Characterization of nuclear SHP2 function in breast cancer progression and metastasis (SHP2N)

Start date: Mar 1, 2015, End date: Jul 2, 2017,

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women with ~1.1 million worldwide cases. Despite intense study, in a significant fraction of women, tumor progression and disease relapse is inevitable underscoring a crucial gap in our understanding of these important hallmarks. Currently, little is known about the biochemical networks controlling these processes. The host lab has shown a f ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Dissecting the Mechanism of Nucleosome Retention in Mouse Spermatozoa (Nucleosome Retention)

Start date: Mar 1, 2015, End date: Jun 16, 2017,

Studies in mice and men suggest that changes in environmental conditions such as nutrition, exposure to environmental pollutants or parental care during early postnatal life can affect the development, physiology and fitness of offspring. The epigenetic mechanisms underlying the transmission of such traits over one or multiple generations are largely unknown but DNA methylation, RNA and nucleosome ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Functional organization of heterochromatin at the nuclear periphery in cell differentiation (CHROMO-ANCHORING)

Start date: Jan 1, 2015, End date: May 6, 2017,

Co-ordinating the patterns of gene expression that drive the development of a complex organism requires multiple layers of regulation, extending from sequence-based DNA-protein interactions to higher-order architecture of the genome.The spatial organization of chromatin within the nucleus is thought to reflect a functional compartmentalization that mirrors changes in cell fate. Recently, the signa ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Metabolic switch during mutant-PI3K-induced breast tumorigenesis and metastasis (METABBC)

Start date: Mar 1, 2015, End date: Feb 28, 2017,

Each year 1.1 million new cases of breast cancer occur among women worldwide and ~50% of the patients succumb to metastatic disease. Although the biology of metastasis has been intensively studied, the cellular and biochemical mechanisms orchestrating its steps remain largely elusive. In this proposal, I will study the metabolic rewiring accompanying breast tumorigenesis and metastasis. Switching ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Mapping the face in the somatosensory brainstem: genetic and activity-dependent mechanisms (TOPO_HOX)

Start date: Jan 1, 2015, End date: Dec 31, 2016,

"Somatosensory information from the physical world is accurately relayed from body surface receptors to brain cortex through topographic connectivity maps enabling to spatially locate and distinguish stimuli such as touch, temperature, proprioception (body position), and nociception (pain). This organization provides a somatosensory body-map representation in the brain exemplified by the concept o ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

RNAi-mediated genome regulation (RNAiGenReg)

Start date: Jan 1, 2012, End date: Dec 31, 2016,

RNA interference (RNAi) is a highly conserved, sequence-specific gene regulatory mechanism among eukaryotes. It is critical for a variety of important biological functions and is being pursued as a promising new tool for the treatment of a variety of human maladies. A surprising link between heterochromatin and the RNAi pathway was discovered a few years ago in fission yeast and plants, and simila ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

A BLUEPRINT of Haematopoietic Epigenomes (BLUEPRINT)

Start date: Oct 1, 2011, End date: Sep 30, 2016,

In response to the call for a high impact initiative on the human epigenome, the BLUEPRINT Consortium has been formed with the aim of generating at least 100 reference epigenomes and studying them to advance and exploit knowledge of the underlying biological processes and mechanisms in health and disease. BLUEPRINT will focus on distinct types of haematopoietic cells from healthy individuals and o ...
Read Project

 45

 FINISHED 

Elucidating the enigmatic role of nuclear actin in genomic stability (NUCLEAR ACTIN)

Start date: May 1, 2014, End date: Aug 1, 2016,

Nuclear actin-related proteins (ARPs) are stoichiometric subunits of chromatin remodelers and specifically recognize and bind to (modified) histone proteins. In the case of the chromatin modifiers INO80, SWR1 and NuA4, canonical monomeric actin is also an important constituent of these large macromolecular complexes and actively takes part in the remodeling reaction. The main characteristic of act ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Epigenetics towards systems biology (EPIGENESYS)

Start date: Oct 1, 2010, End date: Mar 31, 2016,

The ‘EpiGeneSys’ Network of Excellence aims to enable European epigenetics research to enter the arena of systems biology, a new step forward with major implications for human health. Many diseases, not explained solely by gene mutation, have rather been associated with epigenetic disorders. Following the identification of key epigenetic regulators, a move towards a systems biology approach is nee ...
Read Project

 28

 FINISHED 

Neuronal circuits controlling motor behavior (Motor Circuits)

Start date: Mar 1, 2010, End date: Feb 29, 2016,

How does the assembly of neuronal circuits contribute to the emergence of function controlling dedicated animal behaviors? Finding answers to this question requires a deep understanding of the connectivity map of neuronal circuits controlling a behavior as well as the mechanisms involved in the generation of these specific circuit maps. In the project outlined here, I propose the analysis of the n ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Roles of SHP2 and other protein tyrosine phosphatases in metastatic breast cancer (PTPSMETBC)

Start date: Mar 1, 2014, End date: Feb 29, 2016,

Breast cancer (BC) ranks second among cancer deaths in women. Each year, this disease is diagnosed in over one million women worldwide. Although progress has been made, we still do not understand the biology of BC at a level that would explain why certain patients react well to therapy, whereas for others the disease is recurrent, with an inexorable downhill course. This proposal focuses on the ro ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Functional analysis of inhibitory microcircuit in zebrafish olfactory forebrain - by combining viral tracing of synaptically connected microcircuits with neuronal activity measurements (OC MICROCIRCUIT)

Start date: Mar 1, 2014, End date: Feb 29, 2016,

Interneurons in olfactory cortex, central importance for the function of cortical circuits, comprise a wide range of different cell types that may be involved in different microcircuits and computations. However, the fine architecture of synaptic microcircuits which support computational processing in cortex is still poorly understood. The aim of this project is to address connectivities and funct ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

The molecular basis of Cockayne Syndrome (MOBA-CS)

Start date: Jan 1, 2011, End date: Dec 31, 2015,

Cockayne syndrome is a congenital disease with impaired DNA repair in actively transcribed genes. Affected children show developmental abnormalities and signs of premature aging. Cockayne syndrome is caused by mutations in the Cockayne syndrome complementation group A (CSA) and B (CSB) genes. While CSB encodes a SWI/SNF ATPase that likely assists the stalled RNA polymerase in overcoming lesions, C ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Neural circuit function in the retina of mice and humans (CELLTYPESANDCIRCUITS)

Start date: Nov 1, 2010, End date: Oct 31, 2015,

The mammalian brain is assembled from thousands of neuronal cell types that are organized into distinct circuits to perform behaviourally relevant computations. To gain mechanistic insights about brain function and to treat specific diseases of the nervous system it is crucial to understand what these local circuits are computing and how they achieve these computations. By examining the structure ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Dopaminergic modulation of neuronal circuit function in the zebrafish olfactory system (ZF Optomodulomics)

Start date: Aug 1, 2013, End date: Jul 31, 2015,

Neuromodulatory neurons project to a wide range of target areas and adjust neuronal circuit function by modifying neuronal properties, synaptic transmission, and neuronal plasticity. Neuromodulators such as dopamine are implicated in various neurological disorders such as Schizophrenia and addiction. Despite detailed insights into the molecular and cellular actions of neuromodulators, their concer ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

The role of microRNAs in the Retinal Bipolar Cell (RBC miRNA)

Start date: Feb 1, 2013, End date: Jun 6, 2015,

Studies conducted at the Friedrich Meischer Institute (FMI) in Basel have focused on the roles of miRNAs specific to the retina. They have recently shown that absence of functional miRNA expression has severe consequences on mature cone photoreceptors of the mouse retina; a selective and dramatic reduction of cone-specific gene expression arises with the cone-specific loss of regulation by miRNAs ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Mechanisms of microRNA biogenesis and turnover (miRTurn)

Start date: May 1, 2010, End date: Apr 30, 2015,

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of genes, accounting for >1% of genes in a typical animal genome. They constitute an important layer of gene regulation that affects diverse processes such as cell differentiation, apoptosis, and metabolism. Despite such critical roles, deciphering the mechanism of action of miRNAs has been difficult, leading to multiple, partially contradictory, models of m ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Seeing Better with Hybrid BSI Spatio-Temporal Silicon Retina (SeeBetter)

Start date: Feb 1, 2011, End date: Apr 30, 2015,

Conventional image sensors are fundamentally limited by comparison with biological retinas, because they produce redundant sequences of images at a limited frame rate. By contrast neuromorphic 'silicon retina' vision sensors mimic the biological retina's information processing capability by computing the salient spatial and temporal aspects of the visual input, and encoding this information in a ...
Read Project

 4

 FINISHED 

The role of protein-tyrosine phosphatases in breast development and cancer (PTPSBDC)

Start date: Feb 1, 2010, End date: Jan 31, 2015,

Each year 1.1 million new cases of breast cancer will occur among women worldwide and 400,000 women will die from this disease. Although progress has been made in understanding breast tumor biology, most of the relevant molecules and pathways remain undefined. Their delineation is critical to a rational approach to breast cancer therapy. This proposal focuses on the role of the under-explored fami ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Paving the Way for Future Emerging DNA-based Technologies: Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing of DNA libraries (CADMAD)

Start date: Feb 1, 2011, End date: Oct 31, 2014,

CADMAD aims to make a foundational breakthrough in the way computers and computer-aided design and manufacturing is employed in DNA-based research and development, making a radically new use of information technologies in biology and biotechnology.Biology and biotechnology research involves "DNA programming", which is akin to computer programming. Researchers modify and combine DNA of interest in ...
Read Project

 12

 FINISHED 

European Consortium on Synaptic Protein Networks in Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases (EUROSPIN)

Start date: Jan 1, 2010, End date: Jun 30, 2014,

"Signalling at nerve cell synapses - a key determinant of all aspects of brain function - depends on the function of hundreds of synaptic proteins and their interactions. Numerous recent studies showed that a wide range of neurological and psychiatric diseases are 'synaptopathies' whose onset and progression are due to mutations of synaptic proteins and subsequent synaptic dysfunctions. EUROSPIN w ...
Read Project

 19

 FINISHED 

Euro-BioImaging - Research infrastructure for imaging technologies in biological and biomedical sciences (Euro-BioImaging)

Start date: Dec 1, 2010, End date: May 31, 2014,

Euro-BioImaging brings together imaging technologies stretching from basic biological imaging with advanced light microscopy, in vivo molecular imaging of single cells to animal models up to the clinical and epidemiological level of medical imaging of humans and populations. Euro-BioImaging, in close consultation with its stakeholders, will address the imaging requirements of both biological and m ...
Read Project

 44

 FINISHED 

The subnuclear relocation of promoters during development, and following stress induction in C. elegans (WormProLoc)

Start date: Jan 1, 2012, End date: May 7, 2014,

During development and cellular differentiation, cells acquire specific fates by regulating spatially and temporally the expression of certain groups of genes. This correlates with drastic changes in the 3D organization of the genome. A recent discovery from the Gasser lab has demonstrated that in differentiated cells of C. elegans, tissue-specific promoters relocate inward the 3D nuclear space wh ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Optogenetic Neural stimulation platform (OptoNeuro)

Start date: Oct 1, 2010, End date: Mar 31, 2014,

The 2003 breakthrough discovery of a nanoscale optically active cation channel, channelrhodopsin-2, made it possible for the first time, to genetically re-engineer neuron cells to be photosensitive. It became possible to stimulate or inhibit individual action potentials at will, without further chemical modification. The capabilities have been demonstrated in a number of recent high profile journa ...
Read Project

 7

 FINISHED 

Nucleosome Structure & Function across Biological Scales and Biological Function (NUCLEOSOME4D)

Start date: Nov 1, 2009, End date: Oct 31, 2013,

Chromatin packages a few meters of DNA into a nucleus measuring a few microns. This tight folding occurs by assembling DNA with histones into so-called nucleosomes, thus ensuring the mechanical stability of our genome. On the flipside, this makes nucleosomes a formidable obstacle to the machines that read, copy or repair its DNA message. One of the fundamental questions in biology is to understand ...
Read Project

 17

 FINISHED 

Epigenetic determinants of the genome that govern cellular plasticity (EPIGEPLAS)

Start date: Oct 1, 2008, End date: Sep 30, 2013,

Differentiation events in mammalian development involve stable resetting of transcriptional programs, which entails changes in the epigenetic state of target sequences defined by modifications of DNA and bound nucleosomes. These recently identified epigenetic layers modulate DNA accessibility in a positive and negative manner and thus could make genetic readouts context-dependent and dynamic. The ...
Read Project

 2

 FINISHED 

Promotion of plasticity as a treatment for neurodegenerative conditions (PLASTICISE)

Start date: Dec 1, 2008, End date: Nov 30, 2012,

"Neurodegenerative diseases all cause damage to the circuitry of the nervous system, with loss of connections, axons and neurons. The loss can be gradual, as in Alzheimer’s disease, rapid as in stroke, or intermediate as in the delayed neuronal loss after stroke. Following damage, the nervous system is able partially to compensate through the formation of alternative connections and pathways, a pr ...
Read Project

 16

 FINISHED 

Optogenetic analysis of neural circuits controlling behavior in zebrafish (ZF Optogenetics)

Start date: Jul 1, 2010, End date: Jun 30, 2012,

The aim of this project is to understand how behaviours are controlled by neuronal circuits in zebrafish. Genetic methods such as the Gal4-UAS system will be used to express the light-gated cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 and the light-gated chloride pump halorhodopsin in defined neuronal populations. These optogenetic tools permit the stimulation (channelrhodopsin) or inhibition (halorhodopsin) ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

The role of nuclear pore and inner nuclear envelope proteins in the regulation of recombination and repair pathways in budding yeast (NE as a Healing Hub)

Start date: Jul 1, 2010, End date: Jun 30, 2012,

DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) and telomeres both represent ends of a linear chromosome, and both can lead to dangerous genomic rearrangements. Recent studies in budding yeast suggest that persistent DSBs associate with factors in two perinuclear compartments, at nuclear pores and in the inner nuclear membrane (INM). The stability of short telomeres also involves telomere binding to an INM protei ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

"Structural studies of the yeast Topoisomerase III, RMI1 Sgs1 complex." (TOPO)

Start date: Apr 1, 2010, End date: Mar 31, 2012,

"The eukaryotic Topoisomerase3 (TopIII) belongs to the replicative machinery present at the replication fork. TopIII is a type 1 enzyme whose activity is known to unlink the DNA single strand catenanes as shown by the crystal structure of the E. coli Topoisomerase III solved in 2001. The TopIII propensity to solve DNA topological problems and to complete homologous recombination events during repl ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Functional long-term imaging of single bouton-spine pairs during optogenetically controlled synaptic plasticity (OMFLICSS)

Start date: Mar 1, 2010, End date: Feb 29, 2012,

"Communication between neurons in the brain occurs mainly via chemical synapses. Activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength represent the cellular basis of learning and memory and depend on both the presynaptic terminal and the postsynaptic specialization. Although postsynaptic strength and presynaptic transmitter release have been extensively studied in isolation, simultaneous investigation ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Organization, plasticity and perceptual functions of neuronal circuits in a higher olfactory forebrain area (ZebrafishForebrain)

Start date: Mar 1, 2010, End date: Feb 29, 2012,

The brain processes sensory information in a succession of interconnected brain areas. Response complexity tends to increase with distance from the sensory organ, and neurons in higher brain areas exhibit complex response properties that may also reflect memory processes and behavioural associations. Little is known about how such complex representations emerge. I propose to confront this problem ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Spinal locomotor circuits: organization and repair after injury (SPINAL CORD REPAIR)

Start date: Jan 1, 2008, End date: Jun 30, 2011,

"Neural circuits in the spinal cord, called central pattern generators (CPGs), can produce locomotor movements. The locomotor activity pattern is the result of the circuit design and the interplay between the firing properties of the CPG constituent neurons and their synaptic interactions. Spinal cord injury impairs the function of the locomotor circuitry and results in paralysis. An understanding ...
Read Project

 5

 FINISHED 

Role of protein-tyrosine phosphatases in angiogenesis (PTPs in Angiogenesis)

Start date: Jul 1, 2009, End date: Jun 30, 2011,

Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones and is involved in different physiological and pathological processes such as cancer and ischemia. Tyrosine phosphorylation is a reversible process, mediated by protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs). Although the role of PTKs in angiogenesis is well established, little is known about the fu ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Regulation of selective translation via signal transduction pathways (Translation Control)

Start date: Mar 1, 2009, End date: Feb 28, 2011,

The overall rate of protein synthesis is an important factor modulating cell and tissue metabolism. In addition, the translational machinery plays key roles in controlling gene-specific expression in eukaryotic cells. The regulatory mechanisms involve changes in the activities of components of translational complexes that lead to selective translation of specific subsets of messenger RNAs. Modulat ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Topoisomerase Function in genome and epigenome regulation during Neuronal Differentiation (toponeuronal)

Start date: Mar 1, 2009, End date: Feb 28, 2011,

Transcriptional regulation defines the identity of pluripotent and differentiated cells. DNA Topoisomerases are enzymes that catalyze the unlinking of the DNA strands by making transient DNA strand breaks and allowing the DNA to rotate around these breaks, a process essential for DNA replication, transcription, chromosome condensation and segregation (Champoux, 2001). A mammalian-specific distinct ...
Read Project

 1

 FINISHED 

Ubiquitination and sumoylation in modulating subnuclear localization of DNA repair (Slx5-8 in DNA Repair)

Start date: Mar 1, 2009, End date: Feb 28, 2011,

The maintenance of genomic integrity is a crucial biological process. Among the main factors influencing genome stability are DNA repair mechanisms, which are highly conserved among eukaryotes. There is a complex interplay and crosstalk among the different regulatory mechanisms that control DNA repair pathways. These mechanisms often exploit post-translational modifications such as ubiquitination ...
Read Project

 1