Research by Professor Heon-Jeong Lee, Chul-Hyun Cho 

Predicting impending mood disorder with higher than 93% accuracy 

Proactive Treatment of Symptoms based on Prediction 

Simple Measurement Improves Quality of Life for Patients

Prof. Heon-Jeong Lee of Korea University College of Medicine

 Mood disorders such as depressive disorders or bipolar disorders can recur easily, but it is difficult for patients to recognize the impending recurrence. Once those disorders recur, it could take up to several weeks for patients to recover, even with active treatment. Therefore, it would be quite helpful if patients could be enabled to recognize the impending recurrence in advance and actively take preventive measures.

 Recently, a research team has announced the development of a diagnostics tool that can help patients of recurring depressive disorders or bipolar disorders to predict impending recurrence using smart bands and smartphones. According to the research, by analyzing the circadian rhythm data of mood disorder patients collected through their smart bands and smartphones real-time using AI, it would be possible to predict the impending recurrence of their depressive episodes, manic episodes, or hypomanic episodes before they can recognize the symptoms.

 A joint research team made up of Professors Heon-Jeong Lee and Chul-Hyun Cho of the Department of Psychiatry, Korea University College of Medicine, and Professor Taek Lee of the Department of Convergence Security Engineering, Sungshin University have released their research results that suggest that usage of smart bands and smartphones can lead to the prediction of recurrence of depressive episodes and bipolar episodes with more than 93% accuracy. The research is seen to have provided a breakthrough in mitigating the recurrence and symptoms of mood disorders and in improving the quality of life of patients by predicting the episodes through a simple way of collecting data.

 The research team has worked with a total of 495 patients with major mood disorders (major depressive disorder, bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder) in 8 hospitals around the country and collected their data related to physical activity levels, sleep patterns, heart rates, and light exposure through their smart bands and smartphones real-time. The research team followed up and observed these patients for periods ranging from several months to 5 years for the recurrence of their depressive, manic or hypomanic episodes and any changes in their symptoms.

 During the research period, a total of 270 episodes of depressive, manic, or hypomanic disorder occurred among those patients. The research team used AI to transform their digital phenotypes to 140 circadian rhythm-related variables and carried out machine training for predicting the recurrence of mood disorder episodes. As a result, the research team was able to predict the onset of any episode during the next 3 days (AUC: Area Under Curve) with a high accuracy of 0.937 for depressive disorders, 0.957 for manic disorders, and 0.963 for hypomanic disorders.

 Professor Heon-Jeong Lee explained, “Depressive and bipolar disorders have a tendency of recurring without patients’ recognition. Our research results that can help patients predict their impending recurrence just by using their 24-hour circadian rhythm measured by their smart bands or smartphones would greatly benefit their treatment.“

 Currently, Professor Heon-Jeong Lee is working with Hucircadian-the company that developed a smartphone application based on the prediction algorithm identified by this research- to complete the development of ‘CRM (Circadian Rhythm for Mood)’ which is a non-prescription based, digital therapeutic solution that helps patients to self-manage their symptoms of depressive and bipolar disorders. The solution is now being tested in clinical trials at 5 university hospitals to prove their preventive effects.

 This research paper titled, ‘Prediction of Impending Mood Episode Recurrence Using Real-time Digital Phenotypes in Major Depression and Bipolar Disorders in South Korea: a Prospective Nationwide Cohort Study’ was published in the latest edition of ‘Psychological Medicine’(Impact Factor: 10.592)’, a highly-acclaimed international journal in the field.

                ‘2022 K-Vaccine Innovation Day’ 

     Academic Conference held by Vaccine Innovation Center 

              of Korea University College of Medicine

The Vaccine Innovation Center (led by Director Woo Joo Kim) of Korea University College of Medicine held the ‘2022 K-Vaccine Innovation Day’ Academic Conference on December 7th in the main building of the College of Medicine.

 Over 100 researchers and key leaders in the field of vaccine development including President Young Hoon Kim of Korea University Medicine and President Hee Jin Cheong of Korea University Guro Hospital participated in the event.

 At the beginning of the year, the Vaccine Innovation Center recruited creative ideas for vaccine research in order to foster an environment conducive to vaccine research on the campus. This academic conference was held for a mid-term appraisal of the research progress made so far and to encourage collaboration among the participating researchers in a bid to enrich their research output.

 The academic conference featured six oral presentations: Impact Analysis of Repetitive SARS-Cov-2 Vaccination on Humoral Immunity; Assessment Methodology for Neutralizing Antibody Titers based on High Throughput Screening Technology; CyTOF Technology for Measuring Viral Antigen-Specific, Multi-functional T-Cells; Virus Sub genome Generation Profile and Related Vaccine Development; Identification of Microbiome Markers that Impact Immunogenicity of those who have received immune-enhancing synthetic antibody COVID-19 vaccine; Comparative Study on Microbiome, Diet Pattern, Proteomics of COVID-19 Booster Vaccinated Group that experienced breakthrough infection and another group that did not experience breakthrough infection. The conference also exhibited the posters of all 14 research projects in the 2nd-floor lobby of the Main Building.

Top of Form

 In his congratulatory address, President Young Hoon Kim of Korea University Medicine stated, “The Vaccine Innovation Center has been established thanks to donations from Honorary Chairman Cheong Mong Koo of Hyundai Motors Group for the goal of developing global vaccines.” He also added, “The Vaccine Innovation Center is the hope of Korea University Medicine. We will do our best to create an ideal research environment for the researchers and look forward to outstanding research outcomes that could propose a new direction for our institution.”

Control a Mouse with a Chip

Professor Il-Joo Cho 's Team at Korea University Develop a Wireless Brain Chip Capable of Measuring Brain Signals upon the Administration of a Drug

- Controls behavior and monitors neural signals in real-time as soon as drugs are injected directly into the brain
- Published in a world-class international academic journal, Nature Communications

(From the left) professor Il-Joo Cho of Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Korea University, Hyogeun Shin and Yousang Yoon of Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)

A chip has been developed that can control the brain of a mouse and monitor its behavior and neural signals in real time.

A research team led by professor Il-Joo Cho at Korea University has developed a micro wireless brain transplant device that precisely injects drugs into the brain of a free-moving mouse by manipulating a smartphone app to control its behavior and monitor its brain signals in real time.

<Design and features of the wireless neural probe system with drug delivery capability>

Existing studies are hampered by the difficulty to precisely control drugs or control behavior in real time because they are forced to observe changes in brain signals or behavior after injecting drugs using an external pump. The research team developed an ultra-small pump capable of precisely controlling the dose and connected it to a 0.1mm-sized brain chip, which has a microfluidic channel. The brain chip has integrated electrodes for precisely measuring brain signals that indicate responses to drugs.

In addition, the researchers succeeded in wirelessly controlling drug administration in a moving animal through a smartphone app and in recording brain signals in real time on a wirelessly connected laptop. This means that a wireless brain chip is now available that can administer drugs and read brain signals of responses even when the animal is moving freely. Furthermore, the ultra-light system design (4.6g) allows simultaneous drug administration and brain signal reading in the brains of several animals, even in those small animals like mice, by applying Bluetooth wireless communication that prevents signal interference.

The system developed by this research team demonstrated that various drugs can be administered to the brain of mice to induce repetitive behaviors or suppress appetite in real time, and successfully observed changes in neural signals.

Two fasting mice were equipped with a system and tested for food competition. Both of them competed fiercely for food when no appetite-suppressing drug was administered into the brain, while the mouse that did not receive the appetite-suppressing drug ate all the food alone when the other mouse was administered with the appetite-suppressing drug.

Activity in the brain region associated with sociality was also seen to gradually weaken in the mouse once it recognized that it could occupy food without having to worry about the competition. In other words, the research revealed that competitors in the space were not recognized as such if they did not participate in the competition.

Professor Cho said, "The brain chip developed this time can analyze the effects of brain disease treatments in various ways as it can deliver drugs and measure brain signals at the same time in free-acting animals. We expect it to be a very useful tool to identify brain disease mechanisms and develop treatments."

The study was led by first co-authors of Drs. Hyogeun Shin and Yousang Yoon and corresponding author Il-Joo Cho and supported by the Cognitive and Social Studies Research Group of the Institute of Basic Science (IBS), the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Korea Research Foundation. The study was published under the title of "Neural probe system for behavioral neuropharmacology by bi-directional wireless drug delivery and electrophysiology in socially interacting mice" in the online edition of Nature Communications (IF=17.69) on September 21.

Exosomes Secreted from Senescent Cells in the Spotlight as a New Biomarker for Ageing and Aging related diseases

(From the left) Hyo Gyeong Lee, who completed KUCM graduate school; Seokbeom Roh, a graduate student from the Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics; Dr. Yoochan Hong at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials; Professor Gyudo Lee from the Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at Korea University; and Professor Ok Hee Jeon at KUCM

The biophysical properties of exosomes extracted from senescent cells have been revealed for the first time in the world.

A research team led by Professors Ok Hee Jeon at Korea University Graduate School of Medicine and Gyudo Lee from the Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatic at Korea University working together with Dr. Yoochan Hong of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials made comparison and analysis of biophysical properties of exosomes secreted by normal cells and senescent cells in an attempt to present them as features representing the expression of cellular aging.

Exosomes are disease-specific biomarkers that have been commercialized for developing new drugs and diagnosing various diseases. The research team presumed that exosomes extracted from senescent fibroblasts could be used as new senescent biomarkers, established a technique to precisely analyze the surface features and composition of exosomes in nano units using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy, and compared and analyzed the biological properties of exosomes secreted from normal cells and senescent cells, respectively.

The study found for the first time in the world that exosomes secreted from senescent cells have a lower density of biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, and have less negatively charged d due to the adsorption of positively charged senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factors onto the vesicle surfaces of senescent cells compared to those secreted by normal cells.

Professor Jeon who led the research said, "Our research is the first to these biophysical identified the biophysical properties of exosomes can be a hallmark of cellular senescence. We have found it could be utilized in the future as a new approach to diagnose aging and its prognosis."

The study titled, “Nanoscale biophysical properties of small extracellular vesicles from senescent cells using atomic force microscopy, surface potential microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy” was published in a journal well-known in the field of nano, chemical and materials Nanoscale Horizons, a sister magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

 A schematic diagram of the biological characteristics of normal (non-SnC) and senescent cells (SnC)-derived exosomes (sEVs) revealed through AFM-Raman comprehensive analysis