The symphony of epilepsy: An international research team shows that the glycine receptor may contribute to different symptoms of epilepsy
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The research focus of the work is on the so-called glycine receptor. This receptor is changed on the molecular level in one of the most common forms of epilepsy, and increasingly appears in the hippocampus—a brain region that triggers seizures in most patients at later stages of the disease. To study the impact of the altered glycine receptor on different nerve cells, the scientists developed a new animal model of epilepsy. This allowed them to express this receptor specifically in selected nerve cell types of the hippocampus and to investigate how it affects cognitive function and mood-related behavior. The new animal model suggests that the same receptor contributes to a wide range of symptoms in epilepsy patients - such as cognitive dysfunction or anxiet - depending on the type of nerve cell in which it is expressed.
Read more in the complete press release by Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (Link).
Figure Legend
In the animal model, nerve cells producing the modified glycine receptor became introduced an additional gene segment encoding a fluorescent protein that makes the cells glow (purple). Image: Jochen Meier MDC