Bundang CHA General Hospital (CHAMC, http://bundang.chamc.co.kr/) announced that the research led by Prof. Lee Sun-chul in orthopedic surgery was chosen by National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NASA) as its national policy research to conduct long-term drug tests on mice.
Currently, Prof. Lee is doing his research on osteanagenesis in cooperation with three other professors in University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) including Kang Ting, Chia Soo and Jin Hee Kwak.
The on-going research is aiming to develop a cure for preventing osteoporosis and promoting bone formation by using of NELL-1, protein for bone formation with the UCLA research team headed by Prof. Lee and Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) working together.
While NASA and CASIS run tests under microgravity with mice which have osteoporosis from surgery for two months in the international space station, the UCLA research team will conduct related tests and analyze the results.
It is appropriate under microgravity to do research on tissue cells since you can watch the connectivity between cells without interference of gravity. In particular, the research under microgravity is expected to bring new treatment in osteoporosis where is believed to be hardly recovered.
“As people live longer, the number of osteoporosis patients is also increasing. In space, gravity is relatively weak compared to that in the earth, so your bone can become weaker when you stay longer in the space. If this research is done successfully, it is highly likely to become a landmark for treatment of osteoporosis and help mankind advance into the space,” said Prof. Lee Sun-chul.
By Lee Jae-seung