# Establish a novel mouse model tracking multiple extracellular vesicles

> **NIH NIH R21** · CINCINNATI CHILDRENS HOSP MED CTR · 2021 · $238,500

## Abstract

Project Summary
Pro-inflammatory processes, particularly those resulting in chronic inflammation, have been implicated in
obesity, which is the risk factor for numerous diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2D), cardiovascular
disease (CVD), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and cancer. However, the mechanisms by which pro-
inflammatory processes are provoked and lead to chronic inflammatory diseases are not clearly defined.
Recent studies have revealed that membrane-enclosed extracellular vesicles (EVs), including nanosized
exosomes (30–150 nm in diameter), function as crucial transducers of intercellular communication for
inflammatory regulation involved in the development of chronic inflammatory diseases. Therefore, elucidating
the role of EVs in regulating pro-inflammatory processes would be of importance to better understand the
pathogenesis of these diseases.
 For the analysis of EVs in disease conditions, there is a critical need for in vivo tools that can selectively
track the origin and destination of specific EVs, which would allow us to investigate the in vivo networks of
cell/tissue-specific EVs and their impact on characteristics of recipient cells. However, the lack of such in vivo
tools limits our ability to perform targeted EV analysis in chronic inflammatory diseases. To overcome this
limitation and comprehend the EV-mediated inflammatory regulation in these diseases, we aim to develop
new mouse models to investigate EVs secreted from three major metabolic cells by taking advantage of our
expertise and start-of-art techniques in generating transgenic mouse lines. With these mouse models, we will
investigate the in vivo networks of EVs from multiple metabolic tissues within a single mouse during the
pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases, in direct response to the NIH announcement PAR-19-369.
 Studies in this proposal will: (1) Establish mouse models that can monitor EVs secreted from three
major metabolic cells in a single mouse, and (2) Examine inflammatory traits of these EVs in the chronic
inflammatory state by analyzing the new mouse models. By utilizing our new mouse models coupled with our
systematic approaches investigating the inflammatory traits of EVs, we will reveal novel mechanisms of how
three major metabolic cells contribute to the development of chronic inflammatory diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10288370
- **Project number:** 1R21OD031906-01
- **Recipient organization:** CINCINNATI CHILDRENS HOSP MED CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Takahisa Nakamura
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $238,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-07-16 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10288370

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10288370, Establish a novel mouse model tracking multiple extracellular vesicles (1R21OD031906-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10288370. Licensed CC0.

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