# Licensing LncRNAs in Atherosclerosis

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2024 · $614,422

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The majority of the 18 million worldwide cardiovascular deaths are thought to be due to atherosclerosis,
perhaps the single most devastating pathologic process affecting mankind. The recent surge in metabolic
disturbances will ensure that atherosclerosis will not just fade away. This application addresses substantial
knowledge gaps and capitalizes on recent discoveries from our group and new preliminary evidence
suggesting that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) influence the development of atherosclerosis and
cardiometabolic abnormalities. The objective of this proposal is to 1) define the contributions of lncRNAs in
cardiometabolic diseases, 2) improve our understanding of recurrent relationships between lncRNA
conservation and function and 3) test the efficacy of lncRNA-based therapeutic strategies in cardiovascular
disease. Aligned with goals of this application our multicenter collaborative group has collective expertise in
lncRNA biology, atherosclerosis and metabolic disease, epigenomic profiling methodologies, and dissecting
gene-phenotype relationships in human disease. The overarching hypothesis of this proposal is that there may
be lncRNAs with roles in lipid metabolism that are yet to be characterized and when targeted with context
specificity they can mitigate disease phenotypes in relevant models. Using an integrative screening platform
combing mouse and human studies, we identify novel lncRNA involved in hepatic lipid metabolism, develop a
robust pipeline that prioritizes lncRNA functional discovery, and introduce new tools for lncRNA in vivo
perturbations. Aim 1, will determine role of macrophage lncRNAs in atherosclerosis and explore opportunities
for lncRNA-based therapeutics targeting lesions. In Aim 2, we investigate the function of lncRNAs in hepatic
lipid metabolism and test for evidence of cross-species functional conservation despite sequence evolution.
These studies are expected to shed fundamental insight into the significance of noncoding gene regulation in
cardiometabolic control and provide a framework for lncRNA-based therapeutics in cardiovascular disease. In
summary, this discovery-oriented proposal will fill substantial knowledge gaps in the fields of atherosclerosis
and lncRNA biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10745707
- **Project number:** 5R01HL149766-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Tamer Sallam
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $614,422
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-12-15 → 2026-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10745707

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10745707, Licensing LncRNAs in Atherosclerosis (5R01HL149766-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10745707. Licensed CC0.

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