Page 11 - RU Robert Wood Johnson Medicine • Summer 2020

Detlev Boison, PhD, professor of neurosurgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, counts himself among the lucky ones. As a child growing up in Cologne, Germany, Dr. Boison nearly died from a brain infection known to lead to epilepsy in half of all cases. He escaped with no
adverse consequences, but realizes today that its impact was felt in another telling way. “It spawned my early interest in the brain, and how it works,” he recalls. “I’m by nature a curious person—I like the challenge of discovering new things—and the brain is such a fascinating organ. That’s how I wound up in neuroscience research. Along with the desire to give back to those who are less lucky than I was.”
As the new vice chair of research and training in the Department of Neurosurgery,
Dr. Boison continues to pour his scientific skills and energy into discovering paradigm-shifting approaches to treating and hopefully curing not just epilepsy but other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and traumatic brain injury. Not content with the
past dogma of targeting specific neurological pathways, he is focused on the broader picture of metabolism-based therapies that can lead to disease modification in epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and, more recently, cancers. In short,
he is plying the novel waters of biochemical therapeutic manipulation.
His main interest for this research is the molecule adenosine, which is a structural part of the energy currency ATP. Through this link with the energy state of a cell, adenosine becomes a key regulator of the energy system of a cell. What his research has found is that adenosine deficiency is a pathological hallmark of seizure-triggering areas in the brain, and that therapies to restore adenosine homeostasis (equilibrium) are highly effective in halting epileptic seizures. In their ongoing work,
Dr. Boison and his lab have increased adeno- sine levels in the brains of rodents through implants, stem cell grafts, and gene therapy. But a potential new breakthrough mechanism has surfaced.
“We’re looking closely at the major adenosine-metabolizing enzyme known as
adenosine kinase, which determines the levels of adenosine,” he explains. “We launched a new drug discovery and development program that has already demonstrated that by blocking adenosine kinase, we can prevent the develop- ment of epilepsy in more than 50 percent of our rodent test subjects.” Collaborating with Dr. Boison to discover those small-molecule drugs are scientists at the National Institutes of Health.
Beyond epilepsy, the work of Dr. Boison suggests that adenosine is a mechanistic link of common symptoms shared by Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and traumatic brain injury. The latter has become a particu- larly strong focus for Dr. Boison, who earned his doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Cologne in 1994 and began his independent research at the University of Zurich in Switzerland the following year.
Dr. Boison notes that the human brain is amazingly capable of restoring some lost func- tionality after a traumatic brain injury, assisted
by a variety of neurotrophic factors, including adenosine, which acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. More to the point, newly published research from his lab reports that blocking adenosine kinase can attract the injured brain to double its production of newly born cells. Could this translate into a long-sought therapeutic solution to restore brain function? “We’re looking into specific manipulations that might induce the brain to regenerate lost cells after traumatic brain injury or stroke, and believe we could be on to something big,” he says.
Responsible now for managing and building the research arm of an entire department at a major academic center, Dr. Boison is better positioned than ever to achieve his admittedly ambitious goals. “As scientists, we need to completely rethink the traditional approaches to treating and preventing the progression of neurological disease,” he emphasizes, “and we’re very excited by growing evidence that this can be accomplished through the power of metabolism, epigenetics, and biochemistry.” M
Robert Wood Johnson | MEDICINE 9
The recent gift of $50,000 from Dale and Beverly Rice to help fund brain cell regenera- tion research by the Rutgers Brain Health Institute is wrapped in a very poignant mission. One of the three sons of the Portland, Oregon, couple suffered traumatic brain injury from an accidental fall ten years ago and has since been confined to bed with his eyes the only form of movement. The donation from the Quintin Robertson Rice Fund for Neuro-regeneration is supporting the work of senior research associate Hoda
Gebril, PhD, in the lab of Detlev Boison, PhD, professor of neurosurgery. Her research, which is making progress in uncovering advanced biochemical approaches to restoring brain neurons and potentially movement, is giving the Rice family and many others hope for a desperately needed treatment. M