# Multiplexed Profiling of Single-Cell Secreted Exosomes

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE · 2020 · $128,210

## Abstract

SUMMARY 
Most eukaryotic cells secrete numerous membrane-derived vesicles of 30-150 nm in size termed exosomes. 
As an emerging mechanism for cell-to-cell communication, exosomes have been recently found to play 
important roles in a wide range of biological processes, including cancer development and metastasis. For 
instance, increasing evidences support the cancer-derived exosomes can reprogram the behavior of recipient 
cells to promote tumor growth and metastasis. Despite the significance of exosomes, our understanding of 
their biogenesis, molecular classification, and biological functions remain very limited. One of the challenges is 
to analyze exosomes released from single cells. Because cells in a tumor are known to be remarkably 
heterogeneous, single-cell analysis of exosomes is crucial to understanding their pathological roles in cancer. 
However, current “gold standard” methods can only perform ensemble measurements of exosomes released 
from a large cell population because of their poor isolation yield, insufficient analysis sensitivity and low 
throughput. In this proposal, the PI aims to develop for the first time a high-throughput single cell exosome 
analysis system (SCEAS) capable of probing the secretion and molecular composition of exosomes at the 
single cell level. The goal will be achieved via two specific aims: 1) Develop a microfluidic digital barcode 
system for multiplexed, ultrasensitive exosome profiling; and 2) Establish a Single Cell Exosome Analysis 
System (SCEAS) for quantitative profiling of exosomes derived from single cancer cells. Success of the work 
will yield a key tool to enable the studies of heterogeneous exosome release by tumor cells at the single cell 
level, which would facilitate better understanding of intercellular signaling pathways underlying cancer 
development, metastasis, and drug resistance.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9994339
- **Project number:** 5P20GM103638-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE
- **Principal Investigator:** Yong Zeng
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $128,210
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-15 → 2018-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9994339

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9994339, Multiplexed Profiling of Single-Cell Secreted Exosomes (5P20GM103638-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9994339. Licensed CC0.

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