DOPAMINE IMMUNITY

Dopaminergic regulation of immunity

Coordinatore	TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY    more  Organization address address: TECHNION CITY - SENATE BUILDING city: HAIFA postcode: 32000 contact info Titolo: Mr. Nome: Mark Cognome: Davison Email: send email Telefono: +972 4 829 3097 Fax: +972 4 823 2958
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Israel [IL]
Totale costo	100˙000 €
EC contributo	100˙000 €
Programma	FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG
Funding Scheme	MC-CIG
Anno di inizio	2013
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2013-09-01   -   2017-08-31

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY  Organization address address: TECHNION CITY - SENATE BUILDING city: HAIFA postcode: 32000 contact info Titolo: Mr. Nome: Mark Cognome: Davison Email: send email Telefono: +972 4 829 3097 Fax: +972 4 823 2958	IL (HAIFA)	coordinator	100˙000.00

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Common knowledge and extensive scientific evidence suggest that the brain affects the immune system. Our goal is to understand the underlying mechanisms and to harness the networks involved in this communication toward the design of new therapuetic strategies to centrally regulate immune responses. The proposed research plan integrates state-of-the-art technologies in both neuroscience and immunology disciplines, merging them into a multidiciplinary research project.

Here we focus on the role of dopamine (DA) and dopaminergic networks in immune regulation. DA is associated with emotions, movement, and the brain’s pleasure and reward system. Dopamine-regulating drugs are used to treat Parkinson’s disease, hypertension, mood disorders and attention deficits. However dopamine can also modulate the immune system. The mechanisms underlying the dopamine-mediated regulation of immunity remain elusive. The proposed research suggests studying how the specific dopaminergic neuronal networks in the brain participate in immune regulation. To this aim we utilize cutting-edge research tools to systematically investigate and establish causality between dopaminergic circuits in the brain and the immune system; manipulation of neuronal activity will be obtained via Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) and optogenetics. High throughput analysis using Luminex and CyTOF will provide a “bird's-eye view” of the influence of DA neuronal activity on the immune system and will also serve to point to relevant directions for future research.

My scientific background provides the expertise required to execute the presented research plan. As a graduate student I focused on immune system-related regulation of the brain. In my postdoctoral fellowship I focused on neuronal regulation of arousal mechanisms, acquiring the experimental skills in optogenetics and neuronal manipulation. As a new independent researcher at the Technion I propose to combine these fields'