Search for European Projects

35 European Projects Found

Searched on 125080 European Projects

 FINISHED 

Mechanisms of Chromatin-based Epigenetic Inheritance (EpiMechanism)

Start date: Jun 1, 2014, End date: May 31, 2019,

Epigenetic mechanisms heritably maintain gene expression states and chromosome organization across cell division. These include chromatin-based factors that are propagated independent of local DNA sequence elements, and are critical for normal development and prevent reprogramming, e.g. during induction of pluripotency. We focus on the role of nucleosomes, the histone-DNA complexes that make up ch ...
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 1

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"Intramembrane Proteases, their Inactive cognates, and Disease" (IPAD)

Start date: Jan 1, 2014, End date: Dec 31, 2017,

"The ability to release signals from the cell surface is dependent on the correct functioning of the secretory pathway. This proposal focuses on trafficking regulation and quality control within the secretory pathway by members of the rhomboid superfamily, and members of the Signal Peptide Peptidase-Like family (SPPL).The metalloprotease TACE (TNF alpha converting enzyme) is an important sheddase ...
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 1

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The mechanics of nuclear division and positioning (Mechanicus)

Start date: Jan 1, 2014, End date: Dec 31, 2017,

During mitosis the genetic material of the mother cell is separated and distributed between two daughter cells. Responsible for this coordinated segregation is an assembly of polymers, molecular motors and adapter proteins– the mitotic spindle. This super-molecular machine moves the chromosome halves in opposite directions over impressive cellular scales (tens of µm) within a relatively short time ...
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"We propose to study evolutionarily conserved stress-responsive protective mechanisms that limit the extent of tissue damage caused by pathogens or by the innate as well as adaptive immune response elicited by those pathogens, which, without a countervailing response would lead to irreversible tissue damage and disease. We refer to these protective mechanisms as “tissue damage control”, and will a ...
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 1

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Control of Centriole Structure And Number (CentriolStructNumber)

Start date: Jan 1, 2011, End date: Dec 31, 2016,

Centrioles are essential for the formation of several microtubule organizing structures including cilia, flagella and centrosomes. These structures are involved in a variety of functions, from cell motility to division. Centrosome defects are seen in many cancers, while abnormalities in cilia and flagella can lead to a variety of human diseases, such as polycystic kidney disease. The molecular mec ...
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The mouse shows great similarities in development, physiology and biochemistry to humans, which makes it a key model for research into human disease. The major challenges for mouse functional genomics in the 21st century are to:• Develop a series of mutant alleles for every gene in the mouse genome• Determine the phenotypic consequences of each mutation• Identify mouse models for the complete dise ...
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 24

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Chromosome Condensation and Cohesion (CCC)

Start date: Jan 1, 2013, End date: Dec 31, 2016,

"Accurate cell division relies on the fact that the genetic information encoded in the DNA molecules is equally segregated into the two daughter cells. Proper partitioning of the genome, in turn, depends on two key changes in chromosome organization: 1) chromatin is converted into compact structures with the right mechanical properties (size, flexibility, rigidity) to facilitate their segregation; ...
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Telomeres are DNA-protein complexes that reside at the end of the chromosomes. These are key structures in order to prevent loss of genetic information and DNA damage activation at the chromosome termini, thus avoiding genomic instability, which can potentiate tumorigenesis. When a telomere became dysfunctional, for example by loss of telomeric proteins or due to telomere shortening, the DNA damag ...
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 1

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"Current interest in neural stem cells derives from the prospect of using them in brain repair strategies, but also to understand neurodevelopmental pathologies. This will require, however, a significant improvement of our understanding of the gene expression programs associated with their maintenance and differentiation, and how these are regulated. Recently, several lines of evidence suggest a ...
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The process of adaptation to novel environments is of extraordinary importance to understand the existence of biological diversity. The development of a theory of adaptation during the last 150 years identified natural selection as its cause, and the conditions under which it depends on the existence of the heritable variation encoded in DNA sequences, introduced in finite populations by mutation, ...
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 2

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Serotonin (5-HT) is implicated in a wide spectrum of brain functions and disorders. However, its functions remain controversial and enigmatic. We suggest that past work on the 5-HT system have been significantly hampered by technical limitations in the selectivity and temporal resolution of the conventional pharmacological and electrophysiological methods that have been applied. We therefore propo ...
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 2

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Microbial adaptation within ecosystems (ECOADAPT)

Start date: Dec 1, 2010, End date: Nov 30, 2015,

All natural populations are constantly subject to new mutations, and frequently face new environments, to which they adapt. Knowledge of the genetics of adaptation should provide the centerpiece of a unified theory of evolution. Despite its extreme importance, the process of adaptation is far from being understood. How does the shape of distribution of fitness effects of mutations depend on the en ...
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 1

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Targeted research effort on African swine fever (ASFORCE)

Start date: Oct 1, 2012, End date: Sep 30, 2015,

"African Swine Fever (ASF) is a devastating disease affecting swine caused by a complex virus, the only member of the Asfarviridae family. Disease transmission is maintained under different and complex epidemiological scenarios involving domestic and wild swine and arthropod vectors (soft ticks Ornithodoros sp). Due to the fact that no vaccine has been obtained so far, prevention, control, and era ...
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 20

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Symbiosis is a major adaptive process allowing bacteria to interact with other organisms to colonise diverse and adverse environments. The genetic mechanisms behind these symbioses are poorly understood despite the fact that some have a major weight on human health and/or welfare. The goal of this project is to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in monospecific bacterial-host interactio ...
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 1

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Novel immunotherapies for type 1 diabetes (NAIMIT)

Start date: Nov 1, 2009, End date: Apr 30, 2015,

This proposal will pioneer the concept of tailored interventions with minimal immune system interference in new onset T1DM, leading to beta-cell protection and restoration, based on a solid understanding of the disease pathogenesis. This will enable experimental findings to be adopted for future clinical application. Four work packages are grouped around ‘Reversal of autoimmunity’, in which two ke ...
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 15

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Metabolic Reprogramming by Induction of Transcription (MERIT)

Start date: Jan 1, 2011, End date: Dec 31, 2014,

Plants continually monitor the environment to modify physiology and development at the molecular level to ensure maximal fitness. Central in the signaling network is the SnRK1 kinases (homologous to AMPK and SNF1 in mammals and yeast respectively). These kinases are vital to the energy balance of the organism and regulate primary metabolism by controlling transcription factors, which control the e ...
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 8

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In every day life, we constantly have to select the appropriate actions to obtain specific outcomes. Actions can be selected based on their consequences, for example when we press an elevator button to get to the particular floor where we live. This goal-directed behaviour is crucial to face the ever-changing environment but demands an effortful control and monitoring of the response; one way to b ...
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 2

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Epithelial Resealing (RESEAL)

Start date: Nov 1, 2008, End date: Oct 31, 2014,

Epithelia have the essential role of acting as a barrier that protects living organisms and its organs from the surrounding milieu. Therefore, it is crucial for epithelial tissues to have robust ways of maintaining its integrity despite the frequent damage caused by normal cell turnover, inflammation and injury. All epithelia have some capacity to repair themselves, however, the wound-healing proc ...
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 2

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"Sexual reproduction is a fundamental biological process common among eukaryotes. In angiosperms, fertilization although associated with pollination, is actually a fairly late phenomenon in the process of reproduction and involves a double fusion event between two male and two female gametes. In contrast to animal fertilization, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process in flowering plants ...
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 1

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"The main objective of PLANTORIGINS-ITN is to improve career prospects of young researchers in the growing field of plant evolutionary developmental biology through a programme of research, training and transfer of knowledge that integrates new discoveries and approaches in the fields of plant morphology, systematics, and developmental genetics with the overall goal of understanding the origins of ...
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 7

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Innate Neuronal Circuits (INC)

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

"Animals exhibit behavioral repertoires that are often innate and result in stereotyped sexual and social responses to their environment. Sexual behaviors represent a robust set of innate responses. Genetic studies in Drosophila strongly imply the FruM, a male-specific isoform of the fruitless gene in programming male courtship. The circuit of female behavior on the other has been largely uncharac ...
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 1

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"Mate choice is a behavior observed through all animal kingdom with deep evolutionary consequences, since only the genes of animals that can successfully mate will pass to the next generation. If not everybody has the ability of passing its genes, this means that each individual looks different at the eyes of choosers, which has classically been approached in terms of attractiveness. Mate selecti ...
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 1

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"DNA damage response (DDR) monitors chromosome status to ensure correct homologous recombination, genomic integrity and chromosome segregation. Thus the effect of DDR activation upon exogenous DNA breaks has been intensely studied. Less is known about the effects of such mechanisms due to endogenous breaks. In multicellular organisms meiosis is a classical example of double strand break (DSB) prod ...
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Neural mechanisms of action learning in mouse models (Neuroaction)

Start date: Aug 1, 2009, End date: Jul 31, 2013,

The learning of novel skills is characterized by an initial stage of rapid improvement in performance, followed by a phase of more gradual improvements as the skills are automatized and performance asymptotes. Although the striatum has been implicated in skill learning, the detailed mechanisms and circuits underlying its role in the acquisition and consolidation of skills are not understood. Usin ...
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 1

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In recent years a huge flow of quantitative social, demographic and behavioural data is becoming available spurring the quest for innovative technologies that can improve the traditional disease-surveillance systems, providing faster and better localized detection capabilities and resulting in a broad practical impact. Improved ICT techniques and methodologies support the inter-linkage and integra ...
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 12

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Centrioles are cellular organelles made of microtubules that are essential for centrosome, cilia and flagella assembly and as such are involved in a variety of cellular and developmental processes, including cell motility, division and polarity. Centriole biogenesis is first seen during S phase by the appearance of procentrioles that elongate as the cell cycle progresses to reach nearly full lengt ...
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 1

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Medically related Life Sciences use the mouse as a model system to understand the molecular basis of health and disease in humans (>95% similarity of genes in humans and mice). An essential task for Biomedical Sciences in the 21st century will be the functional analysis of mouse models for every gene in the mammalian genome. The major bottlenecks identified by the user community will be proper ...
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 29

 FINISHED 
The mouse shows great similarities in development, physiology and biochemistry to humans, which makes it a key model for research into human disease. The major challenges for mouse functional genomics in the 21st century are to:1) Develop a series of mutant alleles for every gene in the mouse genome2) Determine the phenotypic consequences of each mutation3) Identify mouse models for the complete d ...
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 11

 FINISHED 
Serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) has long been known to be involved in a variety of behavioral, cognitive and emotional processes and is commonly pharmacologically targeted in the treatment of some major psychiatric and neurological diseases. Most of the brain 5-HT innervation arises from a specific neuronal network in the brainstem, the raphe nuclei RN. For a better understanding of the brai ...
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 1

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SOS - Science on Screen (ScienceOnScreen)

Start date: May 1, 2011, End date: Nov 30, 2011,

Everyday we are flooded with scientific terms: in the media, at the supermarket, at the pub with our friends. But who makes this science? And how is it done? How is a scientists’ everyday life? Who better to set things straight than scientists themselves?Using amusing but accurate real life stories, this proposal aims for the production of a television show, to be broadcast on the 23rd of Septembe ...
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 5

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"African swine fever (ASF) in EU member states is currently confined to Italy (Sardinia), it was recently introduced to Caucasian regions and it is highly prevalent in sub-Saharan African countries. In both the EC and Africa changes in the epidemiology of the disease have recently been observed, related to newly emerging strains of ASFV, emphasising the serious threat this disease represents to th ...
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 17

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Mate choice is a critical driving force in evolution yet the mechanisms underlying it remain poorly understood. Ultimately, mate selection requires the perception of specific cues that indicate the characteristics of prospective mates and a decision based on those cues. While a variety of studies have investigated the nature of sensory signals emitted by animals, very little is known about the dow ...
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 1

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Continuing the SettingTheStage project organized in 2009, scientists will be called again on stage to celebrate the Researchers’ Night 2010 not only through performing arts (incl. theatre) but also through sports. These media will allow scientists to express themselves, their visions and their work. SettingTheStage II brings back together entities from four major cities across Portugal (North, Cen ...
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Through the medium of theatre and visual arts, SettingTheStage brings together research centres, universities, an SME, a science museum and theatre groups from four major cities in Portugal, to create multiple spaces where scientists and the public can actively engage in the reality of being a scientist and in the two big scientific celebrations of 2009: the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first us ...
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 9

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The ScientistsAcrossPortugal event will take place in the two major cities in Portugal, with the main purpose of bringing researchers to informal environments and promoting «two-way communication activities» between researchers and public in general. This event which is actually the combination of three different projects all located in the Porto-Lisbon area, respectively promoted by Inovamais, th ...
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