Experimental cancer drug could make thinking easier for individuals with Rett syndrome

University of California - San DiegoJul 25 2024

In a bid to better understand their function, Mesci instead used brain organoids -; "mini brains," essentially, that mimic the developing brain of an embryo -; grown from skin-derived stem cells of consenting patients. Such organoids were created from individuals with Rett syndrome -; a disorder primarily found in females that features loss of speech, purposeful use of hands, mobility and muscle tone, among other symptoms -; as well as from neurotypical individuals.

"If the brain's 'janitors' are not working, problems start to arise," said UC San Diego School of Medicine professor Alysson Muotri, Ph.D., senior author and director of the university's Sanford Stem Cell Institute's Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Research Center. The team then tested a battery of existing drugs on the microglia, to see if any might restore phagocytosis. They found one: ADH-503, also known as GB1275 -; an experimental oral pancreatic cancer medication that also reduces the number of immune-supressing cells that enter a tumor. The drug serves as a regulator of CD11b, a protein involved in phagocytosis, among other processes.

Jonathan Kipnis, Ph.D., professor of pathology, immunology, neurology, neuroscience and neurosurgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and director of its Brain Immunology and Glia Center, said the new research "nicely demonstrates" microglia as a potential therapeutic target in Rett syndrome.

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