# Engineering a cross-linked cellular network for cardiac repair

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2022 · $479,969

## Abstract

Project summary
One bottleneck to achieving therapeutically relevant cell concentrations at the infarct site after myocardial
infarction is the poor cell engraftment and retention of vehicles at the target site. Here we propose the first-of-its-
kind, tunable, replenishable scaffold of cells that allows for multiple drug delivery "waves" to address this gap.
We hypothesize that cardioregenerative cell accumulation and retention in the infarcted myocardium will be
enhanced by surface decorating them with proteins that cross-link the cells via layer-by-layer assembly into a
scaffold. Unlike conventional delivery strategies, which do not allow the subsequent accumulation of cells or
carriers after saturation of the target infarct, each dose of cells in our platform will serve as a capturing surface
for the next dose of cells. This will dramatically amplify the targetable surface area for additional waves of cell
attachment and will also allow the total therapeutic concentration to be adjusted based on the number of doses
administered. To prevent premature cross-linking, we will use engineered proteins that form heterodimers but
not homodimers. These studies are expected to result in a new class of carrier-linked network that will not only
substantially enhance cellular accumulation, retention, and local drug release at the infarct site to maximize
therapeutic efficacy but also allow for several cycles of drug replenishment or personalized dosing in a non-
invasive manner. Here, we aim to evaluate the safety and therapeutic effectiveness of this approach and assess
the effect of surface modification on stem cell function. Successful completion of the proposed studies will
transform the treatment of patients suffering from myocardial infarction.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10539723
- **Project number:** 1R01HL161456-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Juliane Nguyen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $479,969
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10539723

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10539723, Engineering a cross-linked cellular network for cardiac repair (1R01HL161456-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10539723. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*