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H2020Doctoral network2017–2021

4DHeart · 4D analysis of heart development and regeneration using advanced light microscopy

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2017-01-01 → 2021-02-28
EU contribution
€1,487,737
Participants
15
Scheme
MSCA-ITN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners. CORDIS does not always give exact coordinates for projects before 2014. These points are placed at city or country level.

Results in brief

4D analysis of heart development and regeneration using advanced light microscopy

Cardiovascular disease is a main cause of death in Europe (WHO factsheet Nº310, updated May 2017). An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2016, representing 31% of all global deaths. During adulthood, coronary artery diseases cause myocardial infarction ultimately causing heart failure and being the leading cause of death worldwide. Congenital heart defects (CHD) are found in over 20% of perinatal deaths and severe CHD is found in approximately 3.0 per 1,000 live born children. Thus, there is need for research for better early disease diagnosis and the development of therapeutic strategies. In vivo imaging and the possibility to evaluate cellular behaviour in a developing, regenerating, living and beating heart is an invaluable tool to investigate the biological principles governing the cardiovascular system and those that impact cardiovascular health. This EID training network strengthens on-going European academia-industry partnerships and provided innovative training to Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) at the intersection of the fields of biology, microscopy, optics and bio-computing. Through this consortium, we have been able to improve our knowledge on how a heart is formed and is able to regenerate upon injury. The central focus of 4DHeart was to train experts on cardiovascular research through the use of live imaging. Light sheet Microscopy, high-throughput fluorescent light microscopy platforms, as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used in combination with newly developed image processing and image quantification pipelines to decipher how a vertebrate heart is formed at the cellular level and monitor alterations of cardiac function with high accuracy. The supervisors of the training program were academic (CNIC, UBERN, IGBMC, CNRS) and industrial (Leica, BITPLANE; ACQUIFER/Ditabis) partners, experts on cardiovascular development, physics, bio-computing, optics, image analysis, screening platforms and big data handling.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Cardiovascular (CV) disease is a main cause of death worldwide. During adulthood, ischemic heart disease leads to heart failure and perinatally, congenital heart defects are found in over 20% of deaths. Moreover, genetic or epigenetic factors altering development can have an impact much later in life. These facts underscore the need of a better understanding of the genetic and environmental factors that influence CV development. An important way to increase our knowledge is by visualizing cardiac development in vivo. Recent advance in microscopy allows monitoring CV development at a cellular level in organisms such as the zebrafish model. Particularly revolutionary has been the development of light sheet microscopy (LSM). We want to further exploit LSM for in vivo manipulation of cells in the embryonic zebrafish heart and measure with high precision biophysical parameters, by introducing novel features to LSM such as optical tweezers. High throughput cardiac imaging protocols for zebrafish larvae suitable for screenings will be set up. We will develop softwares to enhance resolution of acquisition, large dataset handling and image-processing. The aim is to generate a toolbox to be implemented into existing software packages allowing a complete modeling of zebrafish cardiac morphogenesis. We will adapt LSM for adult zebrafish hearts to study cardiac regeneration and mouse heart development at cellular resolution. Each Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) will develop their own technology to solve a biological problem at the frontier of knowledge. ESRs will receive multidisciplinary (CV development, physics, biocomputing, bioimaging) as well as intersectorial (academic research, SMEs, large companies) training and will achieve unique skills on microscopy, in-vivo imaging and image analysis allowing them to interrogate questions on cardiac development and regeneration. Their profile will be at the interface of a bioengineer and a life science researcher filling a currently existing gap on the market.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • CENTRO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIONES CARDIOVASCULARES CARLOS III (F.S.P.) · MadridCoordinatorSpain
  • ACQUIFER AG · PforzheimCity levelGermany
  • CENTRE EUROPEEN DE RECHERCHE EN BIOLOGIE ET MEDECINE · Illkirch GraffenstadenFrance
  • CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · ParisFrance
  • DITABIS DIGITAL BIOMEDICAL IMAGING SYSTEMS AG · PforzheimGermany
  • ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE · PALAISEAU CEDEXFrance
  • FONDATION DE L'INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE IDIAP · MartignySwitzerland
  • INSTITUTO DE EMPRESA SL · MADRIDSpain
  • Juan Sarasua · BrusselsBelgium
  • LEICA MICROSYSTEMS CMS GMBH · WetzlarGermany
  • PHILIPS IBERICA SA · MADRIDSpain
  • UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE MADRID · MadridSpain
  • UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID · Getafe (Madrid)Spain
  • UNIVERSITAET BERN · BernSwitzerland
  • UNIVERSITE DE STRASBOURG · StrasbourgFrance

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union