# Using the secondary structure (beta-sheet) of exosomal proteins for noninvasive pancreatic cancer detection

> **NIH NIH R03** · NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $145,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
With a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) as a devastating
disease has an inferior prognosis, and prolonged survival is achieved only by resection with macroscopic
tumor clearance. Although surgical resection can potentially cure early-stage disease, more than 80% of
patients present with locally advanced or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis and are ineligible for
resection. Hence, early detection could significantly reduce mortality and improve prognosis. Exosomes
secreted by tumor cells actively participate in tumor progression and metastasis and contain multiple
biomolecules reflecting the status of their parental tumor cells. Although the biogenesis is still not clear,
exosomes released into circulation are under intensive study mostly for its pivotal clinical potential for non-
invasive early detection. Most of these studies focused on exosomal single protein/RNA/DNA, or molecular
signatures based on multiplex assays. To date, none of the candidate markers have been validated to be
adequate for clinical prognosis or diagnosis, which underlies the problem in current exosomal marker
discovery approaches. We studied the collective attribute of exosomes by scrutinizing the secondary
structure of the exosomal proteins. Our preliminary data strongly suggest that the tumor cell secretes
more β-sheet rich proteins through exosomes than the normal cell. The objective of this proposal is
to validate the findings in multiple ways, providing evidence that the secondary structure of the
exosomal proteins can be used for cancer detection. Successful data collection and analysis from this
low-risk and high-reward study will not only justify that a tumor cell sheds more β-sheet rich proteins
through exosomes than a normal cell, but will also uncover an insight into the association between
exosomes and pancreatic cancer cell states, thus providing a method that can potentially serve as
biomarkers and therapeutic choices for pancreatic cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10046870
- **Project number:** 1R03CA252783-01
- **Recipient organization:** NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Dali Sun
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $145,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-07 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10046870

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10046870, Using the secondary structure (beta-sheet) of exosomal proteins for noninvasive pancreatic cancer detection (1R03CA252783-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10046870. Licensed CC0.

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