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EU funding (€4,781,679): Self-organisation and barrier functions of the mammalian glycocalyx – Training glycoscientists across disciplines and borders to stimulate new approaches, understanding and … Hor4 Jul 2025 EU Research and Innovation programme "Horizon"
Overview
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Self-organisation and barrier functions of the mammalian glycocalyx – Training glycoscientists across disciplines and borders to stimulate new approaches, understanding and biomedical applications
Virtually all mammalian cells are covered with a dense and complex coat of sugar chains (glycans) known as the glycocalyx, which is essential for multicellular life. Interfacing the cell surface with the cellular environment, glycocalyces accomplish critical functions in signalling and communication between cells, controlling tissue development, homeostasis and repair, inflammatory and immune responses, neuronal connectivity, and symbiosis with gastrointestinal bacteria. However, when dysregulated, they can promote immune diseases, neurodegeneration and cancer. While glycocalyces act as the first line of defence against pathogens, some pathogens have evolved to hijack the glycocalyx to promote infection. Despite their importance, mammalian glycocalyces remain the ‘dark matter’ of biology, under-studied owing to the historical lack of preparative and analytical tools to probe the local molecular composition and transient interactions of molecules within glycocalyces, and missing physics rules to interpret experimental observations. The GLYCOCALYX Doctoral Network will provide 15 doctoral candidates with training in bespoke physics, chemistry and biology methods – essential disciplines that will be integrated to enable us to resolve the dynamic organisation of glycocalyces, and how they perform the many selective barrier functions essential to multicellular life. We will develop chemical, analytical and computational TOOLS for glycocalyx research and use them to define physics and molecular RULES that underpin glycocalyx self-organisation and barrier functions. Practical scientific training in state-of-the-art research methods will be complemented by a coordinated programme of industry-relevant transferable skills tailored to prepare the doctoral candidates for future careers in the sector of medical technologies and its underpinning innovations.
Funded Companies:
| Company name | Funding amount |
| Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon | ? |
| Asociacion Centro de Investigacion CRL en Biomateriales- Cic biomaGUNE | €282,188 |
| Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS | €944,007 |
| I3S - Instituto de Investigacao e Inovacao em Saude da Universidade do Porto | €279,445 |
| Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine | €348,738 |
| Ludger Ltd. | €348,738 |
| Massive Photonics GmbH | €290,272 |
| Technische Universitaet Wien | €302,543 |
| Umea Universitet | €649,260 |
| Universitatsklinikum Erlangen | €290,272 |
| University of Leeds | €1,046,214 |
Source: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101227305
The filing refers to a past date, and does not necessarily reflect the current state. The current state is available on the following page: Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Lyon, France.
