Establishment of a Monitoring and Evaluation Platform for the Development of Disease-Modifying Drugs in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K15705
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 52020:Neurology-related
• Research Institution: National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Hironobu Endo 国立研究開発法人量子科学技術研究開発機構, 量子医科学研究所 脳機能イメージング研究部, 主任研究員 (10894397)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 進行性核上性麻痺 / タウPET / タウオパチー / バイオマーカー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is an incurable neurological disease caused by the accumulation of abnormal tau protein (tau lesions) in the brain, and the development of a fundamental therapeutic agent is an urgent issue. The National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, to which the applicant belongs, has developed the tau PET ligand [18F]PM-PBB3 to visualize tau lesions in PSP in vivo. Although differential diagnostic methods for PSP using this technology are being established, indices for longitudinal evaluation of symptom progression and prognosis prediction have not been established. In this study, we developed an objective measure of tau protein lesions in PSP and examined the association between longitudinal changes and clinical symptoms. This index will serve as a monitoring and evaluation basis for the development of treatment methods, and is expected to further promote the development of treatment methods in the future.

Free Research Field

神経画像研究

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

PSPにおけるタウ病変は、生前PSPにおいてどのように変化し、脳萎縮や神経症状へ影響しているのか不明である。本研究では、PSPのタウ病変を客観的な指標化し、経時的変化を評価することで、臨床症状との関連を明らかにした。また治療法開発の基盤となるモニタリング評価基盤の確立のため、画像解析のプラットフォームを整備した。本研究によりイメージングによるPSP縦断評価基盤が作成され、タウ病変を標的とした治療法開発が今後一層促進されることが期待される。