各校計畫成果

活動簡介

Taiwan is approaching a super-aged society soon, meaning that over 20% of the population will be 65 or older. Thus, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) has devoted enormous efforts to geriatric care, research, and education programs. A dedicated geriatric hospital and a research center will be open soon. Our development focuses on three of the most serious diseases that affect numerous elderly patients: cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases, in line with the school’s vision. Recruiting expertise from several departments, we have organized four interdisciplinary research teams working on precision radiation, natural killer (NK) cell therapy, aneurysm, and Parkinson’s disease. Specific progress of each project is briefly described below.

Precision radiotherapy. Radiotherapy, a major treatment for cancer management, effectively kills cancer cells. However, a small fraction of cells survives the treatment and becomes resistant, even after multiple rounds of radiation. These surviving cells, which often resemble age-related senescent cells in terms of morphology and physiology, enter a dormant state known as therapy-induced senescence (TIS). To precisely eliminate these residue TIS cells, radiation triggered TIS-responsive drugs are being designed and are currently undergoing chemical and biochemical evaluations.

NK cell therapy. NK cells, which don’t need prior antigen sensitization, are the first line of defense against infections and tumors. However, the enthusiasm for NK cell-based immunotherapy has been dampened by the fact that NK cells lack specificity. To address this, we’re developing a straightforward click-and-go strategy, without gene engineering, to enable targeted NK cell therapy. Currently, we’re optimizing the conjugating protocols to functionalize NK cells. 

Aneurysm treatment. Aortic aneurysms, a severe aortic pathology characterized by the progressive dilation and weakening of the aortic wall, are a life-threatening condition with no effective treatment. We have previously identified that a matricellular protein called CCN1 is upregulated in aneurysm tissues. Therefore, CCN1 antagonist is proposed as a potential candidate to treat aortic aneurysms. A panel of CCN1 mimetics has been synthesized and evaluated using vascular smooth muscle cells.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) treatment. PD is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder among the elderly population. Levodopa, the precursor of dopamine, serves as the primary drug for managing PD symptoms. However, patients begin experiencing levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) symptoms as early as 20 months. This severe complication significantly impairs the quality of life and increases the risk of falls among PD patients. Our interdisciplinary research team focuses on developing a novel intranasal formulation that can alleviate symptoms by activating cognitive K-ATP channels. The initial experiments in animal models already demonstrated promising therapeutic effects using a single polymeric micelle.