Award
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering 5R01EB033389-04
Homogenized, engineered extracellular vesicles for intracranial targeting
Recipient
University of California at Davis
Award Amount
$609,109.00
Ceiling
$609,109.00
Awarded
March 09, 2026
Identifier
5R01EB033389-04
This NIH grant funds research to develop engineered extracellular vesicles for targeted drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier, aiming to improve treatment for neurological disorders.
Description
The objective of the proposed research is to engineer a targeted biological nanoparticle platform with high intracranial delivery and glial cell targeting for broad applicability in drug delivery and imaging. The project aims to understand the mechanisms by which certain extracellular vesicle (EV) subpopulations cross endothelial barriers, especially the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and to engineer them into a hybrid liposome-EV drug delivery platform. The research will focus on homogenizing EVs to reduce heterogeneity, fuse them with liposomes decorated with ligands for receptor-mediated transcytosis, and load them with chemotherapeutic payloads to evaluate drug-release, biodistribution, and efficacy in mouse models.