# Clinical analysis and therapeutic development of exosomal ACE2

> **NIH NIH R01** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $748,517

## Abstract

Abstract
Biomarker-guided treatment is key to improve outcomes of many diseases. The current COVID-19 pandemic
caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global crisis due to lagged
vaccination and inefficient control of the virus, which has caused over 253 million cases and more than 5.1 million
deaths as of November 15, 2021. For potential new strains that may infect vulnerable populations or escape
from vaccination-mediated prevention, biomarker-guided specific therapeutics against broad strains of SARS-
CoV-2 as well as future corona viruses are still urgently required to prevent viral spreading and save human lives
from severe COVID-19. In exploration of soluble components in the plasma of COVID-19 patients during acute
infection and convalescent phase, we detected ACE2 expression in a subset of circulating exosomes and found
that the levels of ACE2+ exosomes (exoACE2) are associated with severity of COVID-19. Purified ACE2+
exosomes competitively blocked the SARS-CoV-2 infection through inhibiting the viral Spike protein with its
cellular receptor ACE2. We hypothesize that the exosomal ACE2 not only serves a biomarker for COVID-19
pathogenesis but also represents an innovative decoy therapy to treat all strains of coronaviruses that use ACE2
for viral entry. We propose two specific aims: (1) to establish a standard clinical assay for exoACE2 analysis;
and (2) to develop exoACE2 therapeutics against the current and future broad strains of coronaviruses. Two
academic institutions (Northwestern University and MD Anderson Cancer Center) will team up with the industry
partner ExoMira Medicine for collaborative translation of exoACE2 into clinical applications, i.e. biomarker-guided
therapy against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10666589
- **Project number:** 5R01AI167272-02
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Deyu Fang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $748,517
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-07-15 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10666589

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10666589, Clinical analysis and therapeutic development of exosomal ACE2 (5R01AI167272-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10666589. Licensed CC0.

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