Professor Kim Tae Wan of Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) has successfully treated lab rats suffering from Parkinson’s disease by increasing the survival rate of stem cells implanted in the brain. Clinical trials are currently underway targeting patients in the United States.
This is expected to accelerate the development of stem cell treatments for incurable Parkinson’s patients.
Kim said on the 12th, “For the first time in the world, we have identified the mechanism of cell death after transplantation during stem cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease,” and “We have found a clinically applicable method to increase the survival rate of pure dopamine neurons.”
Parkinson’s disease occurs when dopamine neurons die. Clinical trials are underway to treat Parkinson’s disease by implanting new dopamine neurons made from stem cells into the patient’s brain. However, despite the advancements in stem cell treatment research, the safety issues of precursor cell transplantation and the problem of most transplanted cells dying off have not yet been resolved.
In 2021, Kim published a method for producing clinically applicable dopamine neurons from stem cells in the international academic journal Cell Stem Cell. Using this technique, he generated clinically applicable dopamine precursor cells. Currently, 12 Parkinson’s patients in the United States are participating in clinical trials testing this cell therapy.
In the process, he found a new way to treat Parkinson’s disease by revealing the cause of the death of transplanted dopamine neurons.
The research team used the in vivo gene manipulation screening method to reveal that the TNF (tumor necrosis factor)-NFκB-p53 signaling system plays a vital role in the death of transplanted cells. Also, through antibody screening using 370 antibodies, they discovered an antibody that separates pure dopamine neurons.
Furthermore, the research team used the TNF inhibitor (Humira), which was approved by the FDA, to increase pure dopamine neuron transplants’ transplantation and survival rate with maximized safety. They also proved through animal experiments that lab rats showing abnormal behavior (moving in a circle in one direction) due to Parkinson’s disease recovered to normal behavior.
Meanwhile, Kim published the research results with Professor Lorenz Studer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the United States and Dr. Gu So Yeon in Cell, the world’s most prestigious academic journal.
