Han Seok Ko, Ph.D.
The Ko lab studies the molecular mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease —a progressive, neurodegenerative movement disorder. By studying the genes responsible for inherited cases of the disease, the researchers aim to understand the cause underlying both sporadic and familial Parkinson’s disease. One such gene codes for the alpha-synuclein protein, which forms insoluble, toxic fibrils in the cells of Parkinson’s disease patients and contributes to neurodegeneration. The Ko lab is characterizing the in vivo relationships between mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and alpha-synuclein pathology. By studying genetic and biochemical abnormalities of glucocerebrosidase (GBA), an enzyme involved in glycolipid metabolism, the team strives to elucidate how GBA contributes to the pathogenesis in Parkinson’s disease and other disorders characterized by abnormal alpha-synuclein pathologies. The research group is creating animal models that accurately mimic the slow nerve cell death in Parkinson’s disease. By establishing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from Parkinson’s disease patients, the Ko lab plans to study the disease in human dopamine neurons.
Ko’s research has the potential to reveal drug targets, improve early diagnosis and develop new animal models for the study of Parkinson’s disease.