# Integrated three-dimensional (3D) microscopy for a spatial pharmacology atlas of macromolecular drugs in the tissue microenvironment

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2024 · $393,586

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The goal of this project is to develop a new tissue assay method that permits single-cell resolution
pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) profiling of macromolecular drugs in the spatial context of
the organ-specific tissue microenvironment in both healthy and diseased states. With the integrated 3D
microscopy, we will 1) map blood vasculature and transvascular transport of macromolecular drugs; 2) image
the distribution and interaction of macromolecular drugs with multiple cell types in the tissue microenvironment;
3) determine cellular responses to macromolecular drugs in sub-microenvironment regions at the molecular level.
This high-resolution 3D multiplex microscopy method will advance “Spatial Pharmacology” in the pharmaceutical
sciences by enabling the mapping of the transport, distribution, and biological actions of macromolecular drugs
in tissue specimens at the tissue-wide, cellular and molecular levels. The maps will provide new insights into
transvascular transport of macromolecular drugs, drug-cell interactions, and biological responses of various cells
to drugs in different sub-microenvironment regions of an organ. The collection of the maps, The Atlas of Spatial
Pharmacology, will be a solid standard reference in the research and preclinical development of macromolecular
drugs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10910016
- **Project number:** 5R35GM142743-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Steve Seung-Young Lee
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $393,586
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-24 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10910016

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10910016, Integrated three-dimensional (3D) microscopy for a spatial pharmacology atlas of macromolecular drugs in the tissue microenvironment (5R35GM142743-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10910016. Licensed CC0.

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