# Evaluation of nanoparticle delivered CRISPR/Cas13-targeting hepatitis E virus as a therapeutic

> **NIH NIH R21** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $196,875

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
HEV is an emerged zoonotic pathogen. It infects nearly 20 million people annually, resulting in approximately
70,000 deaths yearly (2). In the U.S. the virus is believed to be endemic to swine herds with the virus making
its way into the commercial food supply (3, 4). Genotype 3 HEV is increasingly being seen as a pathogen
afflicting immunocompromised populations including those with HIV, cancer, and solid organ transplant (SOT)
recipients (5-9) and mortality can reach up to 30% in pregnant women (10) . Currently chronic HEV patients are
treated with reduction of immunosuppression risking organ rejection in SOT patients or with ribavirin therapy.
There have been reported incidents of ribavirin failure both during and post treatment leading to poor patient
outcomes and ribavirin is contraindicated during pregnancy (11-13). Additionally, single nucleotide variants
(SNVs) have been identified from ribavirin treatment failure that enhance HEV replication (14). New therapeutics
that specifically target HEV, are amenable to treating at risk populations, and prevent complications such as
organ rejection while combatting the emergence of new ribavirin resistant HEV strains are essential to improving
outcomes in HEV patients. Emerging technologies such as CRISPR/Cas13 which can specifically target and
degrade viral RNA along with liver targeting nanoparticles may be an ideal tool to treat HEV infections. Our
proposal will test rationally designed CRISPR RNA targets for efficacy using a newly developed cell culture
system from our laboratory followed by studies on efficient liver targeting of the therapeutic using cutting edge
lipid nanoparticle technologies in a natural host pig model. If successful, these new technologies could be placed
into clinical trials as new therapies to combat HEV infection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10983841
- **Project number:** 1R21AI180487-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Renukaradhya Jayamurthy Gourapura
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $196,875
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-06 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10983841

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10983841, Evaluation of nanoparticle delivered CRISPR/Cas13-targeting hepatitis E virus as a therapeutic (1R21AI180487-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10983841. Licensed CC0.

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