Chemogenetic attenuation of cortical seizures in nonhuman primates

Summary

A joint research group led by Group Leader Takafumi Minamimoto and Visiting Researcher Naohisa Miyakawa of National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, and Associate Professor Keisuke Kawasaki of Niigata University, Professor Masahiko Takada  and Assistant Professor Ken-ichi Inoue of Kyoto University, Chief Physician Takeshi Matsuo of Tokyo Metropolitan Neurological Hospital, and Takafumi Suzuki, Director at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, has developed an on-demand treatment method that suppresses neural activity only when epileptic symptoms occur, using a chemogenetic tool (DREADDs). Moreover, they have successfully demonstrated the efficacy in nonhuman primate models. In this study, the group pharmacologically induced hemi- and whole-body clonic seizures in two male macaque monkeys. Expression of an inhibitory DREADD (hM4Di) throughout the seizure focus, and subsequent on-demand administration of a DREADD-selective agonist, rapidly suppressed the wide-spread seizures. 

These encouraging results in nonhuman primates suggest that DREADDs might be a future therapeutic option for treating epilepsy in humans. 

【Information on the outcome】

https://www.qst.go.jp/site/qst-english/20230228.html　(QST）
https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/23/02/28/10450/（Nikkei Biotech)
https://www.amed.go.jp/news/seika/2023_seika_index.html（AMED）

 

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