ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

The BioMNP objective is the molecular-level understanding of the interactions between surface functionalized metal nanoparticles and biological membranes, by means of cutting-edge computational techniques and new molecular models. Metal nanoparticles (NP) play more and more important roles in pharmaceutical and medical technology as diagnostic or therapeutic devices. Metal NPs can nowadays be engineered in a multitude of shapes, sizes and compositions, and they can be decorated with an almost infinite variety of functionalities. Despite such technological advances, there is still poor understanding of the molecular processes that drive the interactions of metal NPs with cells. Cell membranes are the first barrier encountered by NPs entering living organisms. The understanding and control of the interaction of nanoparticles with biological membranes is therefore of paramount importance to understand the molecular basis of the NP biological effects. BioMNP will go beyond the state of the art by rationalizing the complex interplay of NP size, composition, functionalization and aggregation state during the interaction with model biomembranes. Membranes, in turn, will be modelled at an increasing level of complexity in terms of lipid composition and phase. BioMNP will rely on cutting-edge simulation techniques and facilities, and develop new coarse-grained models grounded on finer-level atomistic simulations, to study the NP-membrane interactions on an extremely large range of length and time scales. BioMNP will benefit from important and complementary experimental collaborations, will propose interpretations of the available experimental data and make predictions to guide the design of functional, non-toxic metal nanoparticles for biomedical applications. BioMNP aims at answering fundamental questions at the crossroads of physics, biology and chemistry. Its results will have an impact on nanomedicine, toxicology, nanotechnology and material sciences.

1 131 250 €

Start date: 2016-04-01, End date: 2021-03-31

The purpose of this project is to develop new methods for solving boundary value problems (BVPs) for nonlinear integrable partial differential equations (PDEs). Integrable PDEs can be analyzed by means of the Inverse Scattering Transform, whose introduction was one of the most important developments in the theory of nonlinear PDEs in the 20th century. Until the 1990s the inverse scattering methodology was pursued almost entirely for pure initial-value problems. However, in many laboratory and field situations, the solution is generated by what corresponds to the imposition of boundary conditions rather than initial conditions. Thus, an understanding of BVPs is crucial. In an exciting sequence of events taking place in the last two decades, new tools have become available to deal with BVPs for integrable PDEs. Although some important issues have already been resolved, several major problems remain open. The aim of this project is to solve a number of these open problems and to find solutions of BVPs which were heretofore not solvable. More precisely, the proposal has eight objectives: 1. Develop methods for solving problems with time-periodic boundary conditions. 2. Answer some long-standing open questions raised by series of wave-tank experiments 35 years ago. 3. Develop a new approach for the study of space-periodic solutions. 4. Develop new approaches for the analysis of BVPs for equations with 3 x 3-matrix Lax pairs. 5. Derive new asymptotic formulas by using a nonlinear version of the steepest descent method. 6. Construct disk and disk/black-hole solutions of the stationary axisymmetric Einstein equations. 7. Solve a BVP in Einstein's theory of relativity describing two colliding gravitational waves. 8. Extend the above methods to BVPs in higher dimensions.

2 000 000 €

Start date: 2016-05-01, End date: 2022-02-28

Exchange of information between different brains usually takes place through the interaction between bodies and the external environment. The ultimate goal of this project is to establish a novel paradigm of brain-to-brain communication based on direct full-optical recording and controlled stimulation of neuronal activity in different subjects. To pursue this challenging objective, we propose to develop optical technologies well beyond the state of the art for simultaneous neuronal “reading” and “writing” across large volumes and with high spatial and temporal resolution, targeted to the transfer of advantageous behaviour in physiological and pathological conditions. We will perform whole-brain high-resolution imaging in zebrafish larvae to disentangle the activity patterns related to different tasks. We will then use these patterns as stimulation templates in other larvae to investigate spatio-temporal subject-invariant signatures of specific behavioural states. This ‘pump and probe’ strategy will allow gaining deep insights into the complex relationship between neuronal activity and subject behaviour. To move towards clinics-oriented studies on brain stimulation therapies, we will complement whole-brain experiments in zebrafish with large area functional imaging and optostimulation in mammals. We will investigate all-optical brain-to-brain information transfer to boost an advantageous behaviour, i.e. motor recovery, in a mouse model of stroke. Mice showing more effective responses to rehabilitation will provide neuronal activity templates to be elicited in other animals, in order to increase rehabilitation efficiency. We strongly believe that the implementation of new technologies for all-optical transfer of behaviour between different subjects will offer unprecedented views of neuronal activity in healthy and injured brain, paving the way to more effective brain stimulation therapies.

2 370 250 €

Start date: 2016-12-01, End date: 2022-05-31

The enormous quantities of frozen carbon in the Arctic, held in shallow soils and sediments, act as “capacitors” of the global carbon system. Thawing permafrost (PF) and collapsing methane hydrates are top candidates to cause a net transfer of carbon from land/ocean to the atmosphere this century, yet uncertainties abound. Our program targets the East Siberian Arctic Ocean (ESAO), the World’s largest shelf sea, as it holds 80% of coastal PF, 80% of subsea PF and 75% of shallow hydrates. Our initial findings (e.g., Science, 2010; Nature, 2012; PNAS; 2013; Nature Geoscience, 2013, 2014) are challenging earlier notions by showing complexities in terrestrial PF-Carbon remobilization and extensive venting of methane from subsea PF/hydrates. The objective of the CC-Top Program is to transform descriptive and data-lean pictures into quantitative understanding of the CC system, to pin down the present and predict future releases from these “Sleeping Giants” of the global carbon system. The CC-Top program combines unique Arctic field capacities with powerful molecular-isotopic characterization of PF-carbon/methane to break through on: The “awakening” of terrestrial PF-C pools: CC-Top will employ great pan-arctic rivers as natural integrators and by probing the δ13C/Δ14C and molecular fingerprints, apportion release fluxes of different PF-C pools. The ESAO subsea cryosphere/methane: CC-Top will use recent spatially-extensive observations, deep sediment cores and gap-filling expeditions to (i) estimate distribution of subsea PF and hydrates; (ii) establish thermal state (thawing rate) of subsea PF-C; (iii) apportion sources of releasing methane btw subsea-PF, shallow hydrates vs seepage from the deep petroleum megapool using source-diagnostic triple-isotope fingerprinting. Arctic Ocean slope hydrates: CC-Top will investigate sites (discovered by us 2008-2014) of collapsed hydrates venting methane, to characterize geospatial distribution and causes of destabilization.

2 499 756 €

Start date: 2016-11-01, End date: 2021-10-31