New crop of ERC Synergy Grants for Institut Curie

ERC Synergy Grants are some of the most prestigious in Europe, and support top-level projects involving cooperation between several principal scientists on the same scientific issue. Their aim is to encourage audacious, interdisciplinary approaches to meet key scientific challenges.
The grants which can be up to 10 millions Euros over a maximum of six years, promote complementarity between expertises and scientific risk taking. Three projects including researchers from Institut Curie are among the 2025 winners.

CenAGE: a new take on aging

The CenAGE project aims to explore an as yet unknown aspect of aging: the role of centromeres, central regions of the chromosome responsible for good distribution during cell division. Centromeres were, for a long time, eclipsed by other structures such as telomeres (the protective ends of chromosomes, whose shortening is associated with aging), but could in fact be key actors in cell aging. Their instability, recently brought to light, may contribute to genomic instability, chronic inflammation and senescence.

To answer this question, the team will be combining approaches from genetics, imaging and cellular biology to analyze the structure and dynamics of centromeres in various experimental models, from the molecular level to that of tissue. It will also look into whether interventions that aim to stabilize centromeres could slow down these effects and hence slow cellular aging.
 

The project is being coordinated by Dr Nicolas Manel¹ (Inserm, Institut Curie), in collaboration with Dr Daniele Fachinetti² (CNRS, Institut Curie) and Dr Elsa Logarinho (Porto University, Portugal).

CenAGE is a six-year project.

“Centromeres are proving to be a serious candidate in the mechanisms of aging. Studying them will open up new avenues towards understanding cellular decline”, says Dr Nicolas Manel.

"One key question is to understand how the instability in centromeres affects cells in the immune system, that play a central role in aging. This project will enable us to answer that question experimentally”, adds Dr Daniele Fachinetti.

PatCorg: reconstituting the development of the human cortex

Project PatCorg is looking into how the cerebral cortex, the seat of superior cognitive functions, forms, by reproducing its development using three-dimensional in vitro models called organoids. The goal is to understand how various areas in the cortex form and how neurones organize themselves into functional layers, essential processes in the emergence of brain functions and altered in several neurological disorders.
To do so, the consortium will be developing new microfluidic devices, miniature systems used to accurately control flows of liquids at a very small scale. These tools will be used in the laboratory to recreate the physical and chemical conditions that direct the regionalization and organization of the cortex during the development of the embryo. This should also improve the fidelity of the organoids to better understand the organization of the human brain and provide a more accurate tool to study brain development and disorders.
 

The project is being led by Dr Alessandra Pierani (CNRS, Institut Imagine) and includes Dr Stéphanie Descroix³ (CNRS, Institut Curie), Dr Alexandre Baffet⁴  (Inserm, Institut Curie), Dr Benoît Sorre⁵  (CNRS, Institut Curie) and Dr Stéphane Nedelec (Inserm, Institut Jacques Monod).

PatCorg is a five-year project.

”This project will enable us to use new tools to explore key mechanisms, still poorly understoo, in the human cortex”, explains Dr Stéphanie Descroix.

”By combining developmental biology, microfluidics and neurosciences, we will be able to remove the barriers and open a window on the origin of certain neurological disorders”, adds Dr Alexandre Baffet.

GeneMotors: exploring the molecular engines that fold and drive the genome

The GeneMotors project explores the inner workings of the genome. It aims at understanding how SMC (Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes) protein complexe function as molecular motors folding the genome into loops. These motors play an essential role in genome folding and regulation. However their internal mechanism and precise functions are still poorly understood.

Coordinated by Professor Cees Dekker (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands), the project involves several international specialists: Dr Wendy Bickmore (University of Edinburgh, UK), Dr Benjamin Rowland (Netherlands Cancer Institute, Netherlands) and Professor Leonid Mirny  (MIT, USA / Institut Curie).

Together, they will be combining biophysical modeling, single-molecule experiments, biochemistry and high-resolution microscopy to understand how these motors work, how they are regulated, and how the process of loop extrusion by these motors regulates gene expression.
GeneMotors is a six-year project.

“These molecular motors translate physics into biology: they fold and regulate the genome at the chromosome level. Understanding how they work means better understanding how the physical organization of DNA influences cellular life”, adds Prof. Leonid Mirny⁶.

[1] Inserm Director of Research, team leader Innate Immunity (Inserm U932) at Institut Curie.

[2] CNRS Director of Research, team leader Molecular Mechanisms in the Dynamic of Chromosomes (CNRS UMR144 / CNRS UMR3664 / Sorbonne University) at Institut Curie.

[3] CNRS Director of Research, deputy director of the Cell Physics and Cancer unit (CNRS UMR168 / Sorbonne University) and team leader Macromolecules and microsystems in Biology and Medicine (MMBM) (CNRS UMR168 / Sorbonne University) at Institut Curie.

[4] Inserm Director of Research, team leader Cellular Biology in Mammalian Neurogenesis (CNRS CNRS UMR144 / Sorbonne University).

[5] CNRS Research fellow in the Dynamic Control of Signaling and Gene Expression team (CNRS UMR168 / Sorbonne University), led by Dr Pascal Hersen.

[6] Professor at MIT (USA), Lead Investigator - guest researcher in the Chromosome Biophysics team (CNRS UMR3664 / Sorbonne University)