# Bioengineering Tools to Resolve and Manipulate Neuroimmune Signaling

> **NIH NIH DP2** · ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS · 2023 · $1,336,458

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Microglia have a role in nearly every incurable psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorder, but of all the
cell types in the brain, they remain the least tractable to study. Human cells in culture do not accurately
recapitulate microglial biology, yet mice have demonstrably non-human neuroimmune responses to pathogens
and disease models. Few methods are compatible with the highly reactive and tissue bound microglia, impeding
all efforts to dissect their biology. Tools to resolve and manipulate these cells in vivo would accelerate
neuroimmune research, from studies of basic biological function to disease mechanisms.
 In this proposal we refine several technologies for application in neuroimmune research. Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI), is one of the only modalities for noninvasive studies of the brain from mouse to
human scales. MRI based signaling reporters offer the spatiotemporal resolution and sensitivity to detect even
the rarest signals and each new sensor can change our view of neuroimmune signaling. Gene manipulations in
microglia formerly required transgenics, but engineered human microglial precusor cells can be ectopically
implanted to create human microglial chimeras, carrying new sensors and genetic models of disease. Finally
targeted gene delivery to microglia is currently beyond our capabilities, but in nature, the Zika virus infects
microglia, suppresses inflammation, and stimulates autophagy so expertly that almost half of
infections go unnoticed. If this bioactivity could be safely refined, it would offer relief for
neurodegenerative disorders from Parkinson’s to Alzheimer's disease. Together these technologies
offer a comprehensive tool kit to engineer model systems, image disease progression and test
therapeutic interventions in a humanized in vivo model, creating a path towards entirely new
therapies for neurodegenerative disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10687761
- **Project number:** 1DP2MH136493-01
- **Recipient organization:** ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Benjamin B Bartelle
- **Activity code:** DP2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $1,336,458
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10687761

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10687761, Bioengineering Tools to Resolve and Manipulate Neuroimmune Signaling (1DP2MH136493-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10687761. Licensed CC0.

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