Prof. Dong-Woo Cho (ME)  and Prof. Paek, Sun Ha (Neu-rosurgery, SNU Hos- pital) have deve- loped a cell-based drug delivery system called a hybrid sca- ffold, which serves to protect transplanted cells from the host’s immune systems. Their results were announced on Feb. 5.
To date, a substance called hydrogel has been used alone as a harmless vector to transfer transplanted cells into target-animals. However, due to its weak mechanical strength, it could not sustain both the stability and longevity of its structure.
To overcome this problem, hydrogel was inserted into a cubic hybrid scaffold to improve its strength and to ensure that transplanted cells settle safely in target tissues by avoiding immunological attacks.
The effectiveness of the hybrid scaffold was clearly observed when the hybrid scaffold containing dopamine-releasing cells were injected into a rat, resulting in a drastic decrease in tissue rejection reaction.
“This drug delivery system will increase the efficiency of future cell therapy, used in treating diseases such as Parkinson’s disease,” said Prof. Paek.