# Reprogramming therapy cell secretion capacity

> **NSF 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · William Marsh Rice University (TX) · $500,000

## Abstract

Therapeutic cells produce proteins that aid in the treatment of disease.  A promising strategy for their use is direct injection of these cells into the human body. Once established inside the body, they would be a constant source of the therapeutic agent. Low cellular production rate is the major limitation of this strategy. Increasing the secretion performance of these cells would make adoption of such strategies more practical. Natural plasma cells (PCs) have much higher antibody secretion rates that other cell types but pose cost and safety concerns. The objective of this project is to modify existing therapy-grade cells with the hyper-secreting capabilities of PCs.  Educational and outreach activities will focus on training early-stage researchers.

The strategy is to understand the mechanisms that drive the transition of B cells into high antibody-producing PCs and implement them in existing therapy cells.  The expression of key transcription factors (TFs) and other regulatory factors will be manipulated. Methods will be developed to systematically tune the expression strengths, ratios and timing of these regulatory elements. This will make it possible to both investigate and optimize the utility of TF expression perturbations for maximizing biologic transcription, translation, post- translational processing, and trafficking through the endoplasmic reticulum. Analyses will be designed to identify combinations of TF- perturbations that maximize the functional secretion

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2444134
- **Awardee organization:** William Marsh Rice University (TX)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** K51LECU1G8N3
- **PI:** Michael R Diehl
- **Primary program:** 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** Quantitative sys bio and biotech
- **Estimated total:** $500,000
- **Funds obligated:** $500,000
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 09/01/2025 → 08/31/2028

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2444134

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2444134, Reprogramming therapy cell secretion capacity. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-08 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2444134. Licensed CC0.

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