Project Grant R01HL181065

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute awarded The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center $662,275 on August 17, 2026, under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) to investigate ether lipid salvage mechanisms through the ACAD10 enzyme.

The research examines how mammalian ACAD10 and its paralog ACAD11 regulate the salvage of dietary ether lipids—specialized membrane lipids that constitute up to 20 percent of the phospholipid pool in eukaryotic cells and play roles in inflammatory signaling, blood clot regulation, and oxidative stress response. Prior work in C. elegans and mice demonstrated that ACAD10 loss results in decreased basal ether lipid levels and complete loss of dietary ether lipid salvage capacity. The project will extend these findings to mammals by investigating the phosphorylation of 1-O-alkylglycerol and dephosphorylation of 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-3-phosphate, enzymatic steps previously uncharacterized in mammals.

Work is performed in Dallas, Texas at UT Southwestern's campus. The period of performance runs from August 17, 2026, through April 30, 2030. UT Southwestern operates as a state-controlled nonprofit academic medical center and holds no SBA designations. The institution maintains a substantial research portfolio anchored by NIH funding, with the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute funding 223 awards across the center.