Nature Medicine
4, 1166 - 1172 (1998)
doi:10.1038/2661
Selective changes in single cell GABAA receptor subunit
expression and function in temporal lobe epilepsyAmy R. Brooks-Kayal1, 2, Melissa D. Shumate3, Hong Jin1, Tatiana Y. Rikhter3
& Douglas A. Coulter31
Pediatric Regional Epilepsy Program and Joseph Stokes
Research Institute of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia,
34th and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19104, USA
2
Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics, University
of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia
, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
3
Departments of Neurology, Physiology and Anatomy, Medical
College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond
, Virginia 23298-0599, USA
Correspondence should be addressed to kayal@email.chop.eduTemporal lobe epilepsy is the most prevalent seizure disorder in adults.
Compromised inhibitory neurotransmitter function in the hippocampus contributes
to the hyperexcitability generating this condition, but the underlying molecular
mechanisms are unknown. Combining patch-clamp recording and single-cell mRNA
amplification (aRNA) techniques in single dentate granule cells, we demonstrate
that expression of GABAA receptor subunit mRNAs is substantially
altered in neurons from epileptic rats. These changes in gene expression precede
epilepsy onset by weeks and correlate with profound alterations in receptor
function, indicating that aberrant GABAA receptor expression
and function has an essential role in the process of epileptogenesis.
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