# Delineating the RNA cargo of exosomes from brain microenvironment

> **NIH NIH R21** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2022 · $463,991

## Abstract

Project Summary
Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a subset of extracellular particles (EPs) canopy present in the
extracellular space of all tissues and bodily fluids. EPs are released by all cells including neurons and astrocytes
and are implicated to have a regulatory function at synapses. Circulating EPs contain molecular footprints (lipids,
proteins, metabolites, RNA, and DNA) from their cell of origin. To date, numerous tissue-specific markers have
been discovered in the EVs derived from a variety of biofluids including saliva, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and blood.
Consequently, EVs and other EPs are increasingly recognized as key players in the cell-to-cell communication,
mainly through vesicle trafficking, prompting their evaluation as prognostic and treatment response biomarkers.
A key question that I plan to address here, is characterization of the molecular landscape of all EPs of the brain
microenvironment and blood. The neurosecretome is a concept I introduce here to embody the compendium of
circulating molecules that link the brain and blood in humans. The neurosecretome is poorly understood and
remains a major gap in knowledge. These secretory particles include, but not limited to, microvesicles, exosomes,
exomeres, high and low density-lipoproteins, Argonaute proteins, ribonucleic proteins, and cell free
proteins/DNA/RNA.
Despite their growing promise, isolation of EVs and other EPs for analysis remains a labor-intensive and time-
consuming challenge given their nanoscale dimensions and low buoyant density. This in part is due to lack of
reproducible isolation and characterization methods of such nanoparticles of interest. My objective is to investigate
all EPs of the brain microenvironment and matching blood. To accomplish this goal, I propose to use the
technology that I have developed to isolate and characterize the EVs and other EPs from human biofluids. At
the completion of this project, I expect to provide; 1) A complete molecular profile of the neuro-secretome of the
brain from AD patients; 2) A complete molecular profile of the neurosecretome in the blood; 3) An overlapping
signature from the transcriptome/proteome of all EPs from brain and blood.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10511414
- **Project number:** 1R21AG078848-01
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** Navneet Dogra
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $463,991
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10511414

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10511414, Delineating the RNA cargo of exosomes from brain microenvironment (1R21AG078848-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-09 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10511414. Licensed CC0.

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