Professor Jiseongwook Ji's Research Team at Samsung Proposes Treatment for Cardiomegaly

Successful Suppression of Cardiac Hypertrophy in Gene-Controlled Mice
Potential Application in New Drug Development for Heart Diseases

Jiseong Wook, Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Korea University

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The research team led by Professor Seongwook Ji of the Department of Life Sciences at Korea University, supported by the 'Samsung Future Technology Fostering Project,' has presented for the first time in the world the cause and treatment of cardiac hypertrophy. The results of this study, conducted solely by Professor Ji's team, were published on the 5th (local time in the UK) in the international academic journal Nature.

Samsung Electronics announced on the 6th that the research team proposed the mechanism of cardiac hypertrophy caused by oxidatively modified microRNA and its treatment method.

The research team focused on the phenomenon where microRNAs modified by 8-oxoguanine are abundantly found in cardiac hypertrophy, a disease induced by reactive oxygen species.

When abnormalities occur in the cells of our body that use oxygen, reactive oxygen species are generated, oxidizing biomolecules. In this process, guanine, one of the RNA bases, is modified into a substance called 8-oxoguanine (o8G).

All living organisms have DNA and RNA, which are polymers containing genetic information necessary for life. DNA stores genetic information, while RNA synthesizes proteins needed by our body based on this information.

Among these, RNA consists of four bases (adenine, uracil, guanine, cytosine). It is known that various modifications occur to these bases depending on biological conditions, but the causes and effects are still under study.

Professor Ji's research team discovered that injecting microRNA with 8-oxoguanine modification at a specific position in the base sequence into the blood vessels of mice induces cardiac hypertrophy by enlarging the myocardial cells of the mice.

They newly developed a substance that binds to the modified microRNA and inhibits its function, and demonstrated the therapeutic effect of suppressing cardiac hypertrophy by injecting it into the blood vessels of mice.

In particular, analysis of the base sequence of heart tissue from myocardial infarction patients confirmed the presence of the same oxidative modification of microRNA, suggesting that these results could be applied to the development of new drugs related to heart diseases in the future.

Professor Ji said, "This study is significant in that it elucidates a universal mechanism for understanding and treating gene modification and disease development processes in various diseases related to reactive oxygen species, including heart disease, degenerative diseases, cancer, and diabetes." The research team has been supported since June 2018 as a project under the Samsung Future Technology Fostering Project.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Future Technology Fostering Project is a research support program launched in 2013 with an investment of 1.5 trillion KRW, aiming to nurture future science and technology in Korea.

So far, the Samsung Future Technology Fostering Project has funded 601 projects with 771.3 billion KRW and has shown active results with a total of 1,245 papers published in international academic journals. Among these, 97 papers have been published in top-tier international journals such as Nature (3 papers) and Science (5 papers).

Under the CSR vision "Together for the Future! Enabling People," Samsung Electronics is conducting win-win activities and social contribution activities for youth education through the Samsung Future Technology Fostering Project, smart factories, C-Lab Outside, and the partner company win-win fund.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.