# Extracellular Vesicles as a Link Between Placental and Renal Dysfunction in Preeclampsia

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2022 · $249,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Preeclampsia (PE) is a devastating hypertensive disorder of pregnancy that is a leading cause of maternal and
fetal mortality and morbidity worldwide. It affects 2-10% of women and accounts for 16% of maternal deaths
related to childbirth in developed countries. PE is difficult to study because it is a multifactorial disorder with
varying molecular mechanisms associated with the development of the spectrum of clinical symptoms
associated with early onset, late onset, and severe PE. A personalized medicine approach applied to
dissecting the underlying mechanisms of PE may be beneficial to reduce clinical incidence of this devastating
syndrome. The placenta plays a key role in the development of PE, leading to widespread maternal endothelial
dysfunction, hypertension, and systemic multi-organ failure in PE. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing
protein, RNA, and lipid cargo are continuously extruded from the placenta, and are capable of interacting with
maternal organs including the kidney. PE is primarily associated with placental and renal dysfunction, and PE
is the most common cause of acute kidney injury during pregnancy. However, no studies have investigated the
potential of placenta-derived RNA cargo as a link between placental and renal dysfunction in PE. Urinary EVs
are derived from multiple tissue types and represent a trove of biomarkers that are increasingly being utilized
to diagnose renal disorders. Further, urine samples can be obtained throughout pregnancy non-invasively and
could potentially be utilized to identify biomarkers related to placental dysfunction in PE. In the proposed
research, during the mentored phase, cutting-edge RNA-Seq technology coupled with computational biological
and machine learning approaches will be applied to profile the transcriptome of urinary EVs in women with PE
compared to normal pregnancy. Preliminary data indicates that it is possible to isolate and profile the
transcriptome of urinary EVs from maternal urine throughout normal gestation, and that placenta-derived and
placenta-specific mRNA and miRNA can be detected within the urinary EV population. This presents a novel
technique that has potential to identify biomarkers as well as provide information on placental dysfunction in
PE in a non-invasive manner. During the independent phase, the candidate will utilize an in vitro approach to
investigate the effect of uptake of placenta-derived EVs with miRNA cargo associated with PE on the function
of proximal tubule epithelial cells and cortical collecting duct cells. These two renal-specific cell types are
involved in tubular reabsorption in the nephron, a process that is compromised leading to increased excretion
of protein in the urine in some preeclamptic pregnancies. This proposal is multidisciplinary, utilizing basic
biology, clinical research, and high-performance computing applied to investigating placental dysfunction in
PE. These experiments are significant because they will ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10487535
- **Project number:** 5R00HD096125-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Priyadarshini Pantham
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $249,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10487535

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10487535, Extracellular Vesicles as a Link Between Placental and Renal Dysfunction in Preeclampsia (5R00HD096125-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10487535. Licensed CC0.

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