1. Academic Background: From Lifespan Extension to the Enhancement of Healthspan With the improvement of global medical and socioeconomic standards since the 20th century, overall human lifespan has significantly increased, especially in developing countries. However, healthspan—the number of years an individual lives in a state of complete health,...
Academic Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are the leading causes of cognitive impairment and vision loss in the elderly population worldwide. Although they affect different organs (the brain and the retina, respectively), recent studies have revealed shared pathological features, such as β-amyloid (Aβ) ...
Academic Background Microglia are the only resident macrophages in the central nervous system (CNS) and play critical roles in development, homeostasis, and disease. Traditionally, microglia were viewed as homogeneous “resting” or “activated” states, but the advent of single-cell sequencing technologies has revealed their remarkable transcriptional...
Academic Background In recent years, the role of immune signaling pathways in nervous system homeostasis has garnered increasing attention. Traditionally, the inflammasome, a core complex of innate immunity, was thought to activate only during infection or tissue damage, participating in pathological processes through caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis ...
1. Academic Background Glioblastoma (GBM) and pediatric diffuse midline gliomas (e.g., H3K27M-mutant) are among the most aggressive tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), with limited efficacy from conventional treatments (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy). For decades, the CNS was considered to have “immune privilege,” meaning the immune s...
1. Academic Background The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of immunoregulatory mechanisms in respiratory viral infections. Despite vaccine advancements, the rapid mutation of SARS-CoV-2 continues to threaten public health. Studies indicate that severe COVID-19 cases are often associated with dysregulated immune responses rather tha...