# Mapping protein communication between organs in homeostasis and disease

> **NIH NIH R01** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2021 · $1,642,113

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Our interdisciplinary team proposes to develop and apply a novel method to systematically identify proteins
involved in inter-organ communication. While a number of hormone peptides have been identified in mammals,
many physiologically important factors involved in energy homeostasis, water-salt balance, pH, and blood
pressure remain to be identified. As existing methods of identifying secreted factors from the blood using mass
spectrometry (MS) have serious limitations, we will use an engineered promiscuous biotin protein ligase to
biotinylate secreted proteins in a specific organ, and then identify biotinylated proteins in distant target organs
through affinity enrichment followed by quantitative MS. These experiments will be performed in two
organisms, Drosophila and the mouse. Drosophila facilitates the rapid development and optimization of the
basic research strategy, generating evolutionary insight into conserved factors in organ communication. The
mouse provides a more direct discovery model for biomedically-relevant, inter-organ regulatory communication
in humans. In addition to identifying factors involved in organ communication, both in normal and disease
conditions, our findings will provide fundamental insight into novel proteins that could be used in the future as
therapeutics. Given our goal to broadly interconnect organ systems, the project is relevant to most NIH
Institutes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10197922
- **Project number:** 5R01DK121409-04
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** STEVEN A CARR
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,642,113
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-25 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10197922

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10197922, Mapping protein communication between organs in homeostasis and disease (5R01DK121409-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-10 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10197922. Licensed CC0.

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