GUTPOLAR | Membrane trafficking as a link between cell polarity and intestinal absorptive function: from C. elegans to mammalian miniguts

Summary
The GUTPOLAR project aims at sustainably reintegrating an Experience Researcher (ER) who will acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to reinforce European research on rare malabsorption diseases.
Food absorption relies on the strong polarity of intestinal epithelial cells and the array of microvilli forming a brush border (BB) at their luminal (apical) pole. Some rare genetic malabsorption disorders, characterized by mispolarized PAR polarity modules and BB structural proteins, are caused by mutations in genes coding for membrane traffic factors (i.e. Myo5B in microvillus inclusion disease/MVID). Despite this functional link, little is known about the genetic, physical and functional interactions between membrane traffic, polarity and BB components in vivo and how they control intestinal absorption.
The ER uncovered a new role of the V0 sector of the V-ATPase, a complex that controls membrane traffic through organelle acidification, in both polarity and BB components apical polarity maintenance in C. elegans intestine. Most interestingly, V0-ATPase depletion in C. elegans recapitulates the cellular phenotypes observed in patients with MVID, making this complex a very exciting candidate which mechanism, genetic partners and mammalian function need to be characterized.
To this end, the ER will first use genetics and super-resolution imaging to study the trafficking routes and the molecular mechanisms controlled by the V0-ATPase in vivo in C. elegans intestine. Then, he will implement mouse intestinal organoids (thanks to a secondment in H. Farin’s lab, Frankfurt, Germany) and use this model to study the conservation of these mechanisms in mammals.
Overall, the GUTPOLAR action will allow to describe evolutionary conserved pathways of polarity maintenance and identify some of the mechanisms leading to absorption disorders that may provide the medical community with new therapeutic targets.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/844070
Start date: 06-05-2019
End date: 05-05-2021
Total budget - Public funding: 196 707,84 Euro - 196 707,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

The GUTPOLAR project aims at sustainably reintegrating an Experience Researcher (ER) who will acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to reinforce European research on rare malabsorption diseases.
Food absorption relies on the strong polarity of intestinal epithelial cells and the array of microvilli forming a brush border (BB) at their luminal (apical) pole. Some rare genetic malabsorption disorders, characterized by mispolarized PAR polarity modules and BB structural proteins, are caused by mutations in genes coding for membrane traffic factors (i.e. Myo5B in microvillus inclusion disease/MVID). Despite this functional link, little is known about the genetic, physical and functional interactions between membrane traffic, polarity and BB components in vivo and how they control intestinal absorption.
The ER uncovered a new role of the V0 sector of the V-ATPase, a complex that controls membrane traffic through organelle acidification, in both polarity and BB components apical polarity maintenance in C. elegans intestine. Most interestingly, V0-ATPase depletion in C. elegans recapitulates the cellular phenotypes observed in patients with MVID, making this complex a very exciting candidate which mechanism, genetic partners and mammalian function need to be characterized.
To this end, the ER will first use genetics and super-resolution imaging to study the trafficking routes and the molecular mechanisms controlled by the V0-ATPase in vivo in C. elegans intestine. Then, he will implement mouse intestinal organoids (thanks to a secondment in H. Farin’s lab, Frankfurt, Germany) and use this model to study the conservation of these mechanisms in mammals.
Overall, the GUTPOLAR action will allow to describe evolutionary conserved pathways of polarity maintenance and identify some of the mechanisms leading to absorption disorders that may provide the medical community with new therapeutic targets.

Status

TERMINATED

Call topic

MSCA-IF-2018

Update Date

28-04-2024
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE
H2020-EU.1.3. EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
H2020-EU.1.3.2. Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
MSCA-IF-2018