# Functional role and therapeutic targeting of exosomes and extracellular RNA biomarkers in heart failure

> **NIH NIH R35** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2020 · $960,670

## Abstract

Despite important advances in the treatment of heart failure (HF), >50% of patients die within 5 years of
diagnosis at their first hospital admission, and HF remains a leading cause of morbidity, mortality and
healthcare expenditure in the United States. With the prevalence of HF expected to increase to 46% by 2030,
novel mechanistic insight into HF pathogenesis and strategies to interrupt this progression are a large unmet
clinical need. My research has focused on the role of exosomes or extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their cargo
RNAs (EV-RNAs) as novel functional biomarkers. We have discovered and validated plasma RNA signatures
that correlate with human HF phenotypes such as adverse structural remodeling after myocardial infarction,
fibrosis and sudden arrhythmic death. We have shown that many of these plasma RNAs are sequestered
within EVs and are a novel mode of intercellular communication. Importantly, many of these EV-RNAs change
in parallel in cardiac tissue, modulating complex signaling pathways that may underlie HF pathogenesis. This
work affords a unique opportunity to develop i) novel clinically useful biomarkers for improved risk stratification
of HF patients; and ii) novel therapeutic targets to interrupt the adverse remodeling process.
I now seek to leverage the tools and platforms developed over the past 5 years to move the EV and EV-RNA
field in new directions using the flexible R35 grant mechanism. I seek to broadly address the following broad
areas of unmet need.
 1. Improve the performance (including prognostic/predictive accuracy and coefficient of variance) of plasma
RNA biomarkers by more specifically measuring EV-RNAs on validated platforms in biorepository plasma
samples from carefully-phenotyped HF and post-MI patients.
2. Determine a functional role for EVs isolated from human HF samples with varied phenotypes in simplified
cell culture (iPSC-derived CMs) and organ-on-chip models
3. Leverage a novel murine model of exosome tracking (ExoMap) mouse to determine the functional
consequences of exosome targeting in cardiomyocytes and other cardiac cells in murine models of ischemic
and non-ischemic HF using single cell nuclear RNAseq.
4. Identify small molecule regulators of EV release/uptake to manipulate EV-mediated signaling in these
murine models.
5. Leverage newly identified cellular RNA biomarkers to develop novel conditional siRNA therapeutics that
target cardiac hypertrophy, autophagy and fibrosis.
The flexibility and latitude afforded by the R35 mechanism will allow me to pursue these high-risk high-reward
experiments that seek to address critical gaps in this field and will also provide time for devoting to mentoring
of the next generation of cardiovascular disease investigators.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9894484
- **Project number:** 1R35HL150807-01
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Saumya Das
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $960,670
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9894484

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9894484, Functional role and therapeutic targeting of exosomes and extracellular RNA biomarkers in heart failure (1R35HL150807-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9894484. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*