OXPL - Molecular level physiology and pathology of oxidized phospholipids

目前已知氧化磷脂(OxPL)与多种病理情况有关，如动脉粥样硬化、炎症、感染、癌症、2型糖尿病和阿尔茨海默病。此外，磷脂氧化似乎普遍参与了细胞凋亡。然而，对这些情况背后的因果关系和机制缺乏连贯的总体看法，主要是因为对细胞和分子水平上发生的过程了解不足。OXPL联盟代表了欧洲研究实验室的高度集中、综合的跨学科方法，这些实验室已经活跃在这个现在迅速崛起的生物化学领域，并由代表用于表征生物分子、它们在生物膜中的相互作用和细胞定位的方法和高分辨率仪器开发方面的最先进专业知识的小组将额外的技能引入该项目。更具体地说，这种CRP结合了膜生物物理学的前沿专业知识，从现代MD模拟到一系列实验技术(椭偏仪、朗缪尔槽、FCS、AFM、核磁共振)，一直到蛋白质折叠、分子细胞生物学、成像、化学生物学和脂质组学分析。该项目将为开发更好的诊断、治疗和预防措施来对抗上述疾病铺平道路，并将使欧洲的研究在这一迅速崛起的重要领域处于领先地位。

Oxidized phospholipids (oxPL) are now known to be involved in several pathological conditions, such as atherosclerosis, inflammation, infection, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore, phospholipid oxidation appears to be generically involved in apoptosis. However, a coherent overall view of the causalities and mechanisms behind these conditions is lacking, mainly because of insufficient understanding of the occurring processes on a cellular as well as a molecular level. The OXPL consortium represents a highly focussed, integrated interdisciplinary approach of European research laboratories already active in this now rapidly emerging area in biological chemistry, together with additional skills brought into the project by groups representing state-of-the-art expertise in method and high resolution instrumentation development for the characterization of biomolecules, their interactions in biomembranes, and localization in cells. More specifically, this CRP combines leading edge expertises on membrane biophysics, from modern MD simulations to a range of experimental techniques (ellipsometry, Langmuir troughs, FCS, AFM, NMR), all the way to protein folding, molecular cell biology, imaging, chemical biology, and lipidomics analyses. The project will pave the way to the development of improved diagnostics, therapies and preventive measures to combat the above diseases, and will take European research to the leading edge in this rapidly emerging and important area.