Outcomes

Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITC) Conference Grants during GP2

Conference Grants are aimed at supporting young researchers from participating ITC to attend international science and technology related conferences not specifically organised by the COST Action. The applicant must make an oral / poster presentation at the conference in question and must be listed in the official event / conference programme. The main subject of the oral presentation / poster presentation / speech at the approved conference must be on the topic of the Action and must acknowledge COST.

During the Grant Period 2 two ITC conference grants were realized:

  • Mr Maurício Soares, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra (PT); ITCCG Title: International Symposium Measuring and Modelling Cell Migration Vienna; Conference Location: Auditorium Centre of the Universitätszahnklinik Medizinische Universität Wien, Vienna (AT)
     
  • Mr Marcos Gouveia, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra (PT); ITCCG Title: Measuring and Modelling Cell Migration; Conference Location: Auditorium Centre of the Universitätszahnklinik Medizinische Universität Wien, Vienna (AT)

Short Term Scientific Missions during GP2

  • Ms Flávia Castro, I3S-Institute for Investigation and Innovation in Health Sciences, Porto (PT); STSM Topic: The effect of immunomodulatory nanoparticles on macrophage cytoskeleton dynamics and their impact on cancer cell invasion; Host: Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, University of Gent, Gent (BE)
     
  • Mr Maurício Soares, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra (PT); STSM Topic: The interplay between extracellular matrix (ECM) mechanics and intracellular regulation on cellular motility: a mathematical model approach; Host: Abdul Barakat, École Polytechnique, Paris (FR)
     
  • Dr Danny Kitsberg, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem (IL); STSM Topic: Mapping the changes in the interactome of lamin-A/C induced by matrix elasticity; Host: Heinz Neumann, Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Physiology, Dortmund (DE)
     
  • Dr Alzbeta Kalendova, Institute of Molecular Genetics, Prague 4 (CZ); STSM Topic: Mechanobiology of plectin-deficient simple epithelia; Host: Ben Fabry, Center for Medical Physics and Technology, Erlangen (DE)
     
  • Dr Anne Bertrand, Association Institut de Myologie, Paris (FR); STSM Topic: Resolving the organization and structure of nuclear lamins in cardiac dilation mutant; Host: Ohad Medalia, Zurich university, 8057 Zurich (CH)
     
  • Dr Nuno Saraiva, School of Sciences and Health Technologies, Lisboa (PT); STSM Topic: Impact of hGAAP on cell invasion: role of mitochondrial Ca2+; Host: Maddy Parsons, King´s College, London (UK)
     
  • Dr Miloslava Maninova, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ); STSM Topic: The role of protein TPR in mechanical properties of mammalian nuclei; Host: Oliver Friedrich, Institute of medical biotechnology, Erlangen (DE)
     
  • Dr Anders Aufderhorst-Roberts, Anders Aufderhorst-Roberts, Amsterdam (NL); STSM Topic: Understanding the Role of Intermediate Filament Internal Structure in Cytoskeletal Crosstalk; Host: Sarah Köster, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen (DE)
     
  • Ms Katarzyna Piekarowicz, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw (PL); STSM Topic: Induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation as a tool for modeling laminopathies; Host: Francesco Saverio Tedesco, University College London, London (UK)
     
  • Dr Peter Nanasi, University of Debrecen, Debrecen (HU); STSM Topic: Superresolution microscopic analyses of nuclear structures; Host: Ivan Novotny, Light Microscopy Core Facility of the Institute of Molecular Genetics, Prague (CZ)
     
  • Ms Ana Dekanic, Ruder Bošković Institute, Zagreb (HR); STSM Topic: Integrin αVβ3 and αVβ5 focal adhesions analysed by atomic force microscopy; Host: Marija Plodinec, Biozentrum, Basel 4056 (CH)
     
  • Mr Dominik Pinkas, Institute of Molecular Genetics of the ASCR, v. v. i., Praha 4 (CZ); STSM Topic: AFM studies of mechanical properties of cell nuclei depending on lamin A modifications; Host: Roderick Lim, Biozentrum and The Swiss Nanoscience Institute, University of Basel, Basel (CH)

WG Meeting - Probing the effects of 3D Bioprinting Processes on Stem Cells' Functional Properties and Integrity (Thessaloniki, Greece, 11th – 12th Feb 2018)

This WG Meeting covered Working Group 1 – Biophysics of cell and tissue structure, Working Group 2 – Structural analysis of biomolecules involved in mechanobiology, Working Group 3 – New methodologies to study mechanobiology of cells and tissues and Working Group 4 – Mechanobiological principles of rare and common diseases. The meeting took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, at the University of Thessaloniki.

The meeting focused on discuss possibilities, and identify specific topics for collaborative proposals, spanning all WGs of the Action in the area of 3D Bioprinting. More specifically, to examine the fate and integrity of the embedded stem cells during and after the process. The outcome of this one-day brain-storming was shared with all members of all WGs for further action. The meeting attend 13 participants, 5 of them were members of the Action.

WG Meeting - Biophysics of cell and skin structure in wound healing (Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1st Dec 2017)

This WG Meeting covered Working Group 1 – Biophysics of cell and tissue structure, and Working Group 3 – New methodologies to study mechanobiology of cell and tissues. The meeting focused on coordinate and design the activity between relevant European groups involved in structural analysis of mechano-response cellular machineries to provide the organization of cytoskeleton related and nuclear related proteins and assemblies. The meeting took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia at the Faculty of Medicine.

Common goal was be to study the mechano properties of the nucleoskeleton, cytoskeleton, focal adhesion and extracellular matrix in skin cells from the human and mouse, to use established models of human/mouse wound healing, and to use this information to determine the roles of individual molecular components in responding to mechanical strain and in activating mechano response pathways.

The meeting started with a short introduction of all participants, so to present their work and interest in the wound healing area. This was followed by a round table discussion, to brain storm and structure one or more future projects that we could collaborate on. Finally, a dedicated session explored available funding calls and strategy on how to obtain funding (who leads which call, partners, objectives, etc.), as well as the strategy to make this happen within the COST network.

WG Meeting – Molecular aspects of aging and longevity (Athens, Greece, 16th – 19th Oct 2017)

The meeting was focused on aging – an inevitable biological process. Unravelling the fundamental molecular mechanism of aging and longevity is a pre-requisite for developing appropriate means of increasing “healthy lifespan”. The meeting took place in Athens, Greece at the National Hellenic Research Foundation. Organizer anticipated approximately 250 participants in total including about 50 young scientists. There were 4 plenary lectures as well as approximately 40 presentations in emerging areas of aging research by internationally leading scientists. Moreover, the Meeting had a EuroCellNet session, where 3 COST Action members presented their data. To this end EuroCellNet COST Action Members (as well as all Meeting´s participants) had the opportunity disseminating their work to a broad and international audience and experts.

MC Meeting – Management Committee Meeting (Frankfurt Airport, Germany, 12th Oct 2017)

Management Committee Members decided to meet at Frankfurt airport to facilitate the discussion of all Action aspects. Date was specified on the 12th October 2018. Grant Period Goals were following:

  • Based on the GP1 experience, improve the strategy and methodology for STSM and ITC Conference Grants call, and organize the STSMs with focus on Early Career Investigators, target countries, and inclusiveness principles in two rounds during GP2
     
  • Review and monior all WGs activity and deliverables
     
  • Attract trade to the Action acivities, facilitate reciprocal knowledge and new technology transfer

WG Meeting – Science Xpression (A Coruna, Spain, 25th – 29th Sep 2017)

A workshop to improved researchers skills, conferences (senior researchers) and a symposium for selected oral presentations (young researchers). The senior researchers that participate in the conference were the mentors of the young researchers that participated in the workshop and in the symposium.

Science Xpression Workshop (26 -28 September) was recommended for graduate/PhD students and postdocs. This workshop had three primary goals: (1) to practice giving oral presentations, (2) to practice writing abstracts that describe research interests and progress and (3) to develop communication skills. Through this process, participants were broaden their scientific horizons and enhance their ability to give presentations, write abstracts, and respond to questions and comments from others.

Training School – The Nuclear Lamina and Nuclear Organization (Yearim – Judean Hills, Israel, 25. – 29. 6. 2017)

The School included the following sessions: Nuclear lamina & nuclear dynamics, Structural aspects of the nucleus, Nuclear Mechanics, Laminopathies, DNA repair and lamins, Cytoplasmicnuclear interactions, Intermediate filaments & Nuclear organization, Nuclear periphery & chromatin organization I. The School included a daily poster session in which the speakers and the students could interact. Organizers aimed at attracting students from target countries. This timely topic was boosted forward by the integration of emerging technologies and seminal findings. Organizer´s approach was to organize this international school with the emphasis of bringing together leading scientists from multiple disciplines, which were within the frame of our COST program.

Organizers emphasized a highly novel and emerging concept, which was the inside-out and outside-in crosstalk between cytoskeletal and nucleoskeletal signaling. They believed that the field matured to the point where the crosstalk between different areas of science was essential for generating groundbreaking discoveries. More importantly, it was an important subject for the students to learn from world leaders. As organizers, their task were to facilitate and stimulate a cross-disciplinary discussion focused on structure and function of the cell nucleus. This school was right in the center of our COST program and included the subjects of all 4 workgroups, as they appeared in the proposal. A few of the confirmed speakers were: Roger Kornberg – Nobel Laurent on transcription, world leaders in mechano-biology (David Weitz, Dennis Discher, Jan Lammerding), as well as Rob Singer, Susan Gasser and many more. Students and other participants presented posters and interacted with the invited speakers.

Training School – Reactive gliosis from mechanobiology and signal transduction to molecular targets and disease pathogenesis (Gotheburg, Sweden, 2. – 6. 5. 2017)

The aim of this training school was to provide both an overview and cutting edge research data on the role of cellular structural networks in CNS disease pathogenesis, with a special focus on the glia-neuron interactions in health and disease.

The training school aimed at providing multidisciplinary understanding of the function of cellular structural networks in CNS disease context. In the past 10 years, deregulation of structural cellular networks and their impact on human diseases, had been intensely studied, and glia‐neuron interactions had been found to play a key role in the pathogenesis of many neurological diseases. This training school aimed to present and integrate novel techniques and recent discoveries as well as to define interdisciplinary approaches to study cellular networks in CNS diseases for better understanding of diseases pathogenesis and the opportunities to enhance regenerative processes in situations such as stroke, neurotrauma, Alzheimer's disease, ALS, or Alexander disease. Organizers brought together some of the most prominent scientists and teachers from diverse but highly complementary fields, including astrocyte (patho)physiology, biology of the nanofilament system, cell signaling, cell biophysics and rheology, neuroimmunology, neurodegeneration, regeneration/neuroplasticity, or state‐of‐the art in vitro and in vivo imaging.

Training School – Reactive gliosis from mechanobiology and signal transduction to molecular targets and disease pathogenesis (Gotheburg, Sweden, 2. – 6. 5. 2017)

The aim of this training school was to provide both an overview and cutting edge research data on the role of cellular structural networks in CNS disease pathogenesis, with a special focus on the glia-neuron interactions in health and disease.

The training school aimed at providing multidisciplinary understanding of the function of cellular structural networks in CNS disease context. In the past 10 years, deregulation of structural cellular networks and their impact on human diseases, had been intensely studied, and glia‐neuron interactions had been found to play a key role in the pathogenesis of many neurological diseases. This training school aimed to present and integrate novel techniques and recent discoveries as well as to define interdisciplinary approaches to study cellular networks in CNS diseases for better understanding of diseases pathogenesis and the opportunities to enhance regenerative processes in situations such as stroke, neurotrauma, Alzheimer's disease, ALS, or Alexander disease. Organizers brought together some of the most prominent scientists and teachers from diverse but highly complementary fields, including astrocyte (patho)physiology, biology of the nanofilament system, cell signaling, cell biophysics and rheology, neuroimmunology, neurodegeneration, regeneration/neuroplasticity, or state‐of‐the art in vitro and in vivo imaging.

WG Meeting – Euro-IF 2017: European Intermediate Filament Meeting (Saint Malo, France, 14. – 17. 6. 2017)

The aim of the workshop was to discuss the molecular and structural principles of intermediate filaments and their roles in health and diseases. With this workshop organizers want to bring scientists together from different areas of intermediate filament research in order to stimulate communication and efficient exchange of experimental results, methodology, concepts and hypotheses.

One of the goals of this workshop was to provide opportunities for young participants who have various interests in intermediate filaments to share their research findings and obtain feedback through presentations, discussions and interactions with their peers and experts in the intermediate filament field.

The topics of this meeting focused on a wide range of studies on the structure and function of intermediate filaments using biophysical, cellular and molecular biological techniques.

Organizers designed a program that it was composed of different topic sessions, each session structured with a first introductive/overview talk made by a renowned expert of the topic who made a review of the topic/field rather presenting only his/her latest data of his/her own lab, then organizers had talks from speakers selected from abstract, with a priority to ECI for these oral communications. Eight different sessions were set up on the following topics: Cytoskeletal crosstalk, Intermediate filaments in neuronal development, Disease modeling & Translational development, Regulation of structure and assembly of Intermediate filament, Mechanobiology of Intermediate filaments, Metabolic regulation & Mitochondria, Proteostatis, Cancer, Migration & Epigenetic. All of them match the EuroCellNet objectives. Assembly of IF was organized as a COST session:

Short Term Scientific Missions during GP1

STSM facilitates Researchers from COST Countries participating in COST Action 15214 to go to an institution, organisation or research centre in another participating COST Country to foster collaboration and to perform empirical research. Participation of “Early Career Investigators” (ECI) in STSM is particularly encouraged. An applicant can be considered as being an ECI when the time that has elapsed between the award date of the applicants PhD and the date of the applicants first involvement in the COST Action 15214 does not exceed 8 years. PhD students are also eligible to partake in STSMs. STSMs can have a duration of between 5 days and 90 days.

During the Grant Period 1 four Short Term Scientific Missions were realized:

  • Dr. Beata Cunderlikova, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius Universiyt, Bratislava (SK); STSM Topic: Mechano-biology of 3D cell cultures; Host: Florian Rehfeldt, III. Physikalisches Insitut – Biophysik, Georg-August-Universitat, Gottingen (DE)
     
  • Dr Mladen Paradzik, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb (HR); STSM Topic: The composition of integrin alpha V focal adhesions; Host: Martin Humphries, Welcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix research at the University of Manchester, Manchester (UK)
     
  • Mr Pavel Marasek, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Goteborg (SE); STSM Topic: Nanoscale structure of intermediate filaments in normal and nestin-depleted astrocytes; Host: Christoph Cremer, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) gGmbH, Mainz (DE)
     
  • Dr Aleksandra Mladenovic Djordjevic, Institute for Biological Research „Sinisa Stankovic“, Belgrade (RS); STSM Topic: The role of Hirano bodies in 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer´s disease; Host: Efstathios Stathis Gonos, National Hellenic Research foundation, Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Biotechnology, Athens (EL)

COST Action (CA 15214) – EUROCELLNET WORKSHOP, Prague 23 – 24 March 2017, Czech Republic

The workshop covered these topics:

  1. Biophysics of cell and tissue structure
  2. Structural analysis of biomolecules involved in mechanobiology
  3. New methodologies to study mechanobiology of cells and tissues
  4. Mechanobiological principles of rare and common diseases

The aim of the workshop was to allow all interested parties to present their data and seek for prospective collaboration and networking. An extra space was allocated for early career researchers.

Workshop Statistics

75 participants
28 countries
39 oral presentations (8 ECIs)
16 posters

Abstract Book (pdf)
Profiles of COST Action (CA15214) Participants (pdf)

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