The mechanobiology of extracellular nanovesicles in the context of cancer
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Uppsala universitet - Institutionen för elektroteknik |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 993 800 |
| Project duration | November 2024 - April 2026 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Preparation projects for international application within health |
| Call | Towards deeper collaboration with UK and USA partners within Health and Life Science |
Important results from the project
Publications: The project has resulted in a peer‑reviewed publication (Stridfeldt et al., PNAS 2025, 122(16)) and a second manuscript is in preparation. Collaboration: The project significantly deepened our collaboration with Prof. Shannon Stott at Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition, it served as a catalyst for establishing new collaborations spanning the USA, Sweden, and Israel. Project proposals: Building on the project’s results, multiple new research proposals have been submitted.
Expected long term effects
The project has generated key evidence supporting the broader hypothesis that EV stiffness influences their transport and biological function. These findings have already stimulated new collaborations and led to multiple follow‑up project proposals. Together, this research direction could establish EV stiffness as both a novel biomarker and a therapeutic lever, enabling future strategies that exploit or modulate EV mechanical properties to affect disease progression and treatment outcomes.
Approach and implementation
The project strengthened our collaboration with the US partner through regular joint meetings and coordinated experiments, combining methods from both labs to generate key EV‑stiffness data. Several new proposals based on these results have been submitted. However, one major objective—submitting an NIH application—could not be achieved due to new US policy restrictions introduced during the project period.