# Extracellular vesicles miRNA cargo induces inflammation during chlamydial infection

> **NIH NIH R21** · ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL RES INST · 2020 · $194,207

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually-transmitted bacterial infection in the world, and is especially
prevalent among adolescents and young adults. A major consequence of infection is persistent inflammation
and evolving damage to the reproductive organs, which in females can result in severe pelvic inflammatory
disease and infertility. Several studies have shown the role for innate immune cells, CD8 T cells and inflammatory
signaling pathways (IFN-β, IL-1β, and TNF-α,) in disease outcome. Our long-term goals are to identify how
Chlamydia infection impacts host cellular processes to facilitate bacterial replication and how these interactions
may result in disease.
 Previous reports indicated release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) during infections and have been shown
to contain DNA, RNA, miRNA, protein, and microbial components. Determining EVs relevance in host-pathogen
interactions is at an early stage of investigation and more work is needed to understand the biological relevance
of EVs during infection. The bigger questions that have not been answered in the field of bacterial infections or
in EV biology are: (1) Do the EVs impact immune cell function and inflammatory response, (2) Does the release
of EVs help in bacterial invasion, (3) What is the role of EVs in the disease outcome, and (4) Does the
composition of EVs vary with the type of pathogen?. Understanding these questions will determine EVs role in
host defense and disease outcome. Our preliminary data clearly shows EVs release from Chlamydia-infected
cells, and presence of miRNA cargo in EVs. To the best of our knowledge we are the first to show that EVs
released during Chlamydia infection contain miRNAs. Our proposal is to determine the role of EV-miRNA cargo
in inflammation and disease outcome and delineate their role in bacterial invasion. Based on our preliminary
data we hypothesize that EV-miRNAs are involved in the induction of inflammation and pathology during
Chlamydia infection. We test our hypothesis with two specific aims: (1) Determine the role of EV-associated
miRNAs in inflammation and TLR7 activation during Chlamydia infection and (2) Identify the role of EVs in a
mouse model of Chlamydia infection. Insight into the role of EV-associated miRNAs is impactful in terms of
understanding the overall process of inflammatory response to infection. Furthermore, defining the in vivo
function of EV-associated miRNAs is innovative and novel for studies related to Chlamydia infection.
 Completion of our high risk and high reward proposal will determine whether EVs induce inflammation
via TLR7 during Chlamydia infection and will also enhance general understanding of EV biology. Insight into
mechanisms involved in bacterial survival, inflammation and immune response would help in vaccine
development and possibly therapeutic options.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9931158
- **Project number:** 5R21AI146521-02
- **Recipient organization:** ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL RES INST
- **Principal Investigator:** MARIO G FERRUZZI
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $194,207
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9931158

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9931158, Extracellular vesicles miRNA cargo induces inflammation during chlamydial infection (5R21AI146521-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9931158. Licensed CC0.

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