Programmes Européens EU PCRD6

Advances in hearing science: from functional genomics to therapies (EUROHEAR)

• Coordinator

  Contact Person:
  PETIT, Christine (Professor)
  Tel: +33-145688890
  Fax: +33-145676978
  Email: Contact

  Organisation:
  INSTITUT DE LA SANTÉ ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE
  INSERM U 587, INSTITUT PASTEUR
  Rue de Tolbiac
  PARIS
  FRANCE

Project description

EuroHear has two closely inter-related objectives. These are

• to provide fundamental knowledge about the development and function of the inner ear
• to identify the molecular defects underlying hereditary hearing impairments (HI), including presbycusis, one of the most frequent forms of HI. Achieving these objectives will facilitate the development of therapies for alleviating HI

In order to address the above issues, the EuroHear project is organised into 4 components:

1. The identification of genes underlying sensorineural HI in humans and mice.
2. The analysis of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the development and function of: "The hair bundle "The ribbon synapses of the hair cell and outer hair cell electromotility. "The ion channels, ion transporters and gap junction channels that contribute to the potassium homeostasis.
3. The standardisation, implementation and development of technologies.
4. The development of new tools for preventing and curing HI.

Currently, we identify a multidisciplinary approach as the sina qua non condition for further progress in understanding the inner ear. The EuroHear consortium comprises a group of laboratories that are world experts in a variety of hearing research fields. EuroHear is a continuation and extension of a previous European consortium that has successively tackled early-onset, Mendelian forms of deafness and hearing loss. The success of this European consortium, which has identified half of the 37 known genes for isolated forms of HI in humans, has been due in large part to intense collaboration between human and mouse geneticists. Expected contributions of EuroHear include a standardisation of investigative protocols, the provision of access to large-scale platforms for genetics and genomic analysis, the development and diffusion of physiological and biophysical techniques of relevance for functional investigations of the inner ear, the creation of a variety of mouse

Participants

• PHILIPPS UNIVERSITET MARBURG, GERMANY
• UNIVERSITÄTSMEDIZIN GÖTTINGEN - GEORG-AUGUST-UNIVERSITÄT GÖTTINGEN - STIFTUNG ÖFFENTLICHEN RECHTS, GERMANY
• INSERM TRANSFERT SA, FRANCE
• MAX-DELBRÜCK-CENTRUM FÜR MOLEKULARE MEDIZIN, GERMANY
• UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE, GERMANY
• ZENTRUM FÜR MOLEKULARE NEUROBIOLOGIE, UNIVERSITÄT HAMBURG, GERMANY
• UNIVERSITÄTSKLINIKUM FREIBURG, GERMANY
• INSTITUT CURIE, DIVISION DE RECHERCHE, FRANCE
• ISTITUTO VENETO DI MEDICINA MOLECOLARE - CENTRO DI RICERCA DELLA FONDAZIONE PER LA RICERCA BIOMEDICAL, ITALY
• UNIVERSITY OF SFAX FOR THE SOUTH, TUNISIA
• INTEGRAGEN SA, FRANCE
• ACREO AB, SWEDEN
• INSTITUTE OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, HUNGARY
• KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET, SWEDEN
• FUNDACIÓN PARA LA INVESTIGACIÓN BIOMÉDICA DEL HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARIO RAMÓN Y CAJAL, SPAIN
• UNIVERSITÄTSKLINIKUM BONN, GERMANY
• MAX PLANCK SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, REPRESENTED BY THE MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY AND GENETICS, GERMANY
• TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY, ISRAEL
• CONSORTIUM NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE EN GENOMIQUE, FRANCE
• MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, UNITED KINGDOM
• STICHTING KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT, UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTRE NIJMEGEN, NETHERLANDS
• UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX, UNITED KINGDOM
• GENOME RESEARCH LIMITED, UNITED KINGDOM
• AFFICHEM, FRANCE
• UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI - HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO, FINLAND
• UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN, BELGIUM
• UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
• INSTITUTE OF GENETICS UNIVERSITY OF BONN, GERMANY