Development of Technology for In Vitro Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Diseases for Generalized Treatment
Professor Kim Jong Seung developed a small molecule-based fluorescent sensor for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in collaboration with research groups of Chosun University and Yonsei University

▲ (From left) Professor Kim Jong Seung of KU, Professor Lee Kun Ho of Chosun University, Professor Kim YoungSoo of Yonsei University, An Jusung of KU (doctoral student), and Kim Kyeonghwan of Yonsei University (doctoral student).

이과대학 Professor Kim Jong Seung of the Department of Chemistry of the College of Science organized a joint research team with Professor Lee Kun Ho of the Department of Biomedical Science of Chosun University (Head of the GARD Cohort Center) and Professor Kim YoungSoo of the Department of Pharmacy of Yonsei University and developed a small molecule-based fluorescent sensor for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. This technology diagnoses Alzheimer's disease early through effectively detecting the formation of amyloid beta oligomer, a major disease factor (biomarker) of Alzheimer's disease, in patients' cerebrospinal fluid.

해The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the results were published in the latest issue of Nature Communications (IF: 17.7), which is a globally renowned journal, with the article titled “Early onset diagnosis for Alzheimer's disease patients via amyloid-β oligomers-sensing probe in cerebrospinal fluid.”

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of degenerative neurological disease worldwide and accounts for the majority of dementia patients. This disease is accompanied by severe cognitive impairment, and symptoms worsen over time, ultimately leading to death. Recently, aducanumab (product name: Aduhelm) and lecanemab (product name: Lechembe) of Biogen of the U.S. and Eisai of Japan and donanemab of Lilly are emerging as new drugs against Alzheimer's disease. In this situation, the development of a technology for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is essential to ensure that the appropriate treatment window is not missed.

In order to provide preventive treatment through the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, amyloid beta, which is deposited in the body, must be detected at an early stage of the disease, which features either no symptoms or mild symptoms. Positron emission tomography (PET) is the only diagnostic method that is currently available. However, in order to conduct a PET test, expensive equipment worth several billion won is required, and the cost of the test is at least 1 million won and represents a huge financial burden. In addition, in order to conduct the test, a radioactive trace material of short half-life must be injected into the blood vessels, making advanced reservation essential and limiting a wide application. Therefore, the development of a low-cost, generalized in vitro diagnostic technology that allows for the large-scale quick testing of people aged 65 or older, who are in the high-dementia-risk group, before expensive precision examination is highly desirable. This will enable the provision of preemptive preventive dementia treatments, taking advantage of the current rapid advancements in dementia treatment technology.

Accordingly, Professor Kim Jong Seung's joint research team successfully developed a molecular system capable of detecting amyloid beta oligomers in the cerebrospinal fluid. The joint research team employed a precise molecular hydrophobicity control technology to achieve high selectivity and sensitivity for amyloid beta oligomers, so that the molecular system exhibits increased fluorescence only when bound to amyloid beta oligomers but remains invisible in aqueous solution. In this way, the research team developed an effective early diagnosis technology that can not only directly measure the formation of amyloid beta accumulating in the brain but also accurately measure the formation of amyloid beta oligomers in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

<Development of a small molecule-based probe for amyloid beta oligomer detection and the establishment of an in vivo early onset diagnosis system for Alzheimer's disease>

Professor Kim Jong Seung, who developed the fluorescent sensor, said, “Since the material that we developed can be mass-synthesized at a low cost, we will soon be able to carry out an early prediction test for dementia for less than 10,000 won.” He explained, “The last barrier remaining to developing a generalized technology that is applicable to the national health examination is to develop a technology for reliably measuring amyloid beta oligomers in the blood.” In addition, Professor Lee Kun Ho of Chosun University, who has led Asia's largest community dementia high-risk group cohort (GARD Cohort), said, “Commercializing a highly versatile dementia prediction technology allowing for large-scale quick testing necessitates demonstrating the accuracy of dementia onset prediction with early-stage, asymptomatic Alzheimer's disease patients.” Professor Lee added, “For a decade, we have been screening high-risk groups for dementia through precision medical examination targeting of local residents over 60 years of age and obtained blood samples from them while conducting long-term follow-up studies. If we apply the samples from the GARD Cohort, we will be able to verify the accuracy of dementia onset prediction the most rapidly internationally. So, I expect that our technology may be applied to the national health examination within a few years.”