Seoul, Sept. 28 (SANA) Researchers at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea have developed a biochip that tracks how laboratory-grown human neural tissue responds to Parkinson’s drugs, allowing continuous monitoring of changes that could help assess potential treatments.
The research, published in the journal ACS Nano, was conducted by university teams led by biophysics professors Kim In-ki and Park Jong-chan, The Korea Times reported Sunday.
The device combines a three-dimensional brainstem organoid grown from human stem cells with a nanoplasmonic optical sensor. An organoid is a laboratory-grown tissue model designed to resemble part of an organ.
A dopamine-sensitive artificial DNA molecule, known as an aptamer, is attached to a sensor made with gold nanoholes and an optical resonator. This allows researchers to measure dopamine released by the neural tissue without damaging it.
A microfluidic chip delivers drugs and culture medium through tiny channels while the sensor monitors the organoid’s response. Researchers tracked the tissue continuously for 12 hours, measuring when a drug’s effect began, peaked and subsided.
In tests using the neural model, increasing the drug concentration did not necessarily produce a stronger response. The researchers identified a concentration that performed best in that model; the result does not establish a dose for patients.
Kim said the system opens a way to follow drug responses over time in living human tissue. He said the team plans to develop it further for research into patient-specific treatments.
The platform could help researchers evaluate potential Parkinson’s drugs, but further work is needed before it could be used in clinical settings. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder associated with the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells. It primarily affects movement, with symptoms that can include tremors, slowed movement, muscle stiffness and impaired balance.
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