CUHK Research: Changing the world

Neuroscience and brain deterioration Tackling the “tsunami of dementia” It is expected that in 2050, more than 130 million people will suffer from dementia worldwide. “I describe it as a ‘tsunami of dementia’,” says Professor Ko, Assistant Dean (Research) at the Faculty of Medicine at CUHK. “We are focusing on how our research can tackle the upcoming tsunami, an urgent matter that deserves much attention by society and policymakers.” The brain is the most complex part of the human body controlling all body activities. Professor Ko leads a team with expertise in biology, chemistry and engineering to conduct pre-clinical scientific and clinical studies about the ageing brain and its deterioration in diseases. They focus on studying causes of gliovascular dysfunction in ageing and neurodegenerative conditions with brain imaging tools developed by themselves, and seek to devise solutions to counteract age-related brain deterioration. “While most existing research focus on post-diagnostic treatments, our team is eager to explore ways to achieve primary prevention as early as when the symptoms are mild, or even before any symptoms are visible,” says Professor Ko. The team started out in a small laboratory in 2016. “Establishing a laboratory is very challenging,” says Professor Ko. “Our experiments rely heavily on optical imaging equipment, such as fluorescence microscopy, two-photon excitation microscopy, and a wide range of molecular assays. We dig deep into mechanisms about how the brain works and fails to work, and in particular deterioration and dysfunction caused by ageing.” Their efforts have yielded positive outcomes at the pre-clinical level. In 2020 and 2021, the team demonstrated that a class of drugs can halt and even reverse brain cell ageing. Their mouse studies showed that treatment with GLP-1R agonist slows down age-associated changes in brain glial and vascular cells at both gene expression and functional levels. “The blood-brain barrier is a vital barricade preventing toxic substances from getting into the brain. Our experiments showed that these drugs can reduce the leakage of blood-brain barrier, a common problem appearing when the brain ages. They allow the brain to recover by producing molecular alterations and presumably also a physical change that restores the effectiveness of the blood-brain barrier,” says Professor Ko. Owen Ko Ho Assistant Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics 70