Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) awarded a $388,750 Project Grant to The Washington University on March 1, 2026, under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859). The research initiative, funded through January 31, 2030, investigates phosphatidylserine (PS) neighborhood proteins on apoptotic cells and their role in efferocytosis—the process by which phagocytes recognize and engulf dying cells. The project delivers fundamental basic research designed to characterize PS-proximal proteins that modulate cell death recognition and downstream immune signaling, advancing understanding of biological processes critical to disease diagnosis and treatment development.

The research comprises two primary research objectives. Aim 1 characterizes PS-proximal proteins in apoptotic cells versus live PS-exposed cells and examines how different cell death mechanisms alter these protein neighborhoods, with particular focus on scramblases mediating PS exposure. Aim 2 tests specific tetraspanin proteins in regulating efferocytosis through both ex vivo models and in vivo tissue inflammation models. The project is conducted at Washington University's Office of Sponsored Research Services Division in St. Louis, Missouri, leveraging the institution's established research infrastructure and expertise in biomedical sciences to generate knowledge that may inform future therapeutic approaches for inflammation and immune-related diseases.