[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Bio research company OATC announced on the 15th that it has published a paper revealing a new mechanism for Alzheimer's disease treatment based on brain immune regulation, in collaboration with the research team of Professor Yoo Sung-woon from the Department of Brain Science at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), in an international academic journal.
Alzheimer's disease is known to develop due to increased neuroinflammation caused by malfunctioning microglia, but the exact mechanism has not been clearly identified. The DGIST research team, through this study, elucidated the mechanism by which microglia, the brain immune cells, become excessively activated in Alzheimer's disease, and discovered candidate therapeutic drugs that suppress immune responses and restore memory.
Specifically, the research team revealed that through drug repositioning, Chlorpromazine restores the expression of REV-ERBα in microglia, suppresses hyperimmune responses, and has the effect of recovering memory ability, thereby suggesting a new therapeutic direction for Alzheimer's disease.
Professor Yoo Sung-woon of DGIST said, "This study identified a new mechanism between Alzheimer's disease and microglial immune responses, laying the groundwork for more in-depth dementia treatment research," and added, "We expect this to be a good opportunity to present new strategic methods for the development of Alzheimer's disease treatment technologies."
The research results were published in the international academic journal Nature Communications, and domestic and international patent applications for the candidate substances have been completed. OATC stated, "Based on these research results, we aim to develop Chlorpromazine as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease," and added, "We also plan to accelerate the development of new drugs based on the newly identified mechanism."
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