Establishment of an aging brain environment model as a basis for iPS cell research on neurodegenerative diseases.

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K16930
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 51030:Pathophysiologic neuroscience-related
• Research Institution: Juntendo University
• Principal Investigator: Takahiro Shiga 順天堂大学, 大学院医学研究科, 特任助教 (50784378)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: iPS細胞 / パーキンソン病 / 老化 / アストロサイト

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In recent years, it has become necessary to reproduce the complex network of the brain environment in iPS cell-based neurodegenerative disease models, and three-dimensional culture has been attracting attention. However, it is difficult to reproduce the brain structure during aging, and the pathological conditions observed in patient autopsy brains have not been clearly detected.
In this study, while using conventional 2D culture, we constructed a pathological analysis system for neurodegenerative diseases by combining aging and mimicry of the brain environment including cell-cell interactions, and developed a basic system to achieve highly accurate pathological analysis and drug discovery, which could not be achieved by conventional stand-alone culture or 3D culture. These research results were presented at conferences as appropriate, and some of them were applied for patents.

Free Research Field

病態神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で確立された技術は、多検体の高齢発症神経変性疾患病態解析や創薬スクリーニングに適した手法の開発を目的として構築した基盤システムであり、従来の単層培養法と比較してして高精度な結果を得ることができる。さらに、時間軸・脳内環境を模倣したモデルのため、ヒト剖検脳に近いデータを取得できる可能性を秘めている。また、様々な神経変性疾患にも応用可能なシステムなため、効率的に病態表現型や創薬スクリーニング行うことができる。