NUCLEAR is an interdisciplinary European training network for doctoral students. Its aim is to train young scientists on the metabolic regulation of genome function and cell identity, an area that is relevant to stem cell biology and cancer research. To this end, the European Union is funding NUCLEAR as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network to the tune of approximately four million euros through the Horizon Europe programme. The network was launched in November 2024. From 2025 on, twelve partner organisations will be participating in training the network’s 17 PhD students, including universities such as the University of Cambridge, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, non-university research institutions such as ISAS, companies from industry, and a patients’ association. All of these participants enrich the network by contributing different skills from disciplines including stem cell biology, precision nutrition, mass spectrometry and drug development.
At ISAS, the Lipidomics research group is participating in the network. The PhD training focuses on the visualisation of acyl-coenzyme A (acyl-CoA) and associated metabolites (products of metabolism) in subcellular resolution using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI). Specifically, this NUCLEAR project is about developing methods including mass spectrometry imaging and combining them with complementary techniques such as fluorescence microscopy to reveal how metabolites such as acyl-CoA organise themselves spatially in cells and in the cell nucleus. In the next step, the ISAS researchers want to use the resulting information to clarify the influence of these metabolites on chromatin (a complex of DNA and proteins in the nucleus) and the regulation of cancer-inducing genes. As one of several subprojects, the aim is to use the results from ISAS to help identify metabolic weak points in cancer cells for new therapeutic strategies.