LiceVault - implementing a model organism for studying vault function and application as smart adjuvant for fish vaccination
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2019
- End date
- 12/31/2025
- Budget
- 1,229,631 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRIMEDBIO - Independent projects - Medicine, Health Sciences and Biology | Grant | - | - | 1,229,631 EUR |
Abstract
Ever since early life-scientists looked through microscopes in the 17th century, they have strived to understand the basic building blocks of life. Our knowledge about the workings of cells and their parts has become more and more comprehensive over time. Vaults are a remarkable exception as they represent one of the last mysterious cell parts. They were called vaults after their similarity to gothic architecture. Vaults are large structures, about three times the size of a ribosome and present in most animal cells. Their 3-dimensional structure is known, but we have very limited understanding of their function. One of the first presumptions was that vaults play a role in cancer cell resistance towards chemotherapy. Later, it was found that amount of vault is correlated to different stresses, like lack of oxygen, and toxins. Researchers have also suggested that vaults are intracellular transporters. Comparing different genomes, we found that the Atlantic salmon louse has even more genes for vaults than for example humans. The salmon louse is an ectoparasite and causes severe problems and losses to fish farming and might threaten wild salmon by feeding on its blood and skin. Strict control measures are put in place if numbers get too high. These range from pesticides to mechanical delousing and cleaner fish. Salmon lice are very adaptive and have developed resistance against most chemicals. Within the project, we will study the function of vaults in the salmon louse and whether they contribute to stress tolerance or drug resistance. Our investigation so far indicates that both the localization and function of vault may be different from what has been expected before. Our ongoing efforts are therefore focused on verifying this by several independent methods.