Enhancing GABA A Receptor α1 Subunit Levels in Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus Inhibits Epilepsy Development in an Animal Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

• Published in: The Journal of neuroscience Vol. 26; no. 44; pp. 11342 - 11346
• Main Authors: Raol, YogendraSinh H, Lund, Ingrid V, Bandyopadhyay, Sabita, Zhang, Guojun, Roberts, Daniel S, Wolfe, John H, Russek, Shelley J, Brooks-Kayal, Amy R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.11.2006
• ISSN: 0270-6474; 1529-2401
• DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3329-06.2006

Differential expression of GABA A receptor (GABR) subunits has been demonstrated in hippocampus from patients and animals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), but whether these changes are important for epileptogenesis remains unknown. Previous studies in the adult rat pilocarpine model of TLE found reduced expression of GABR α1 subunits and increased expression of α4 subunits in dentate gyrus (DG) of epileptic rats compared with controls. To investigate whether this altered subunit expression is a critical determinant of spontaneous seizure development, we used adeno-associated virus type 2 containing the α4 subunit gene (GABRA4) promoter to drive transgene expression in DG after status epilepticus (SE). This novel use of a condition-dependent promoter upregulated after SE successfully increased expression of GABR α1 subunit mRNA and protein in DG at 1–2 weeks after SE. Enhanced α1 expression in DG resulted in a threefold increase in mean seizure-free time after SE and a 60% decrease in the number of rats developing epilepsy (recurrent spontaneous seizures) in the first 4 weeks after SE. These findings provide the first direct evidence that altering GABR subunit expression can affect the development of epilepsy and suggest that α1 subunit levels are important determinants of inhibitory function in hippocampus.