Up-regulated BAFF and BAFF receptor expression in patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy and a pilocarpine-induced epilepsy rat model. (May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ma, Limin; Li, Ruohan; Huang, Hao; Yuan, Jinxian; Ou, Shu; Xu, Tao; Yu, Xinyuan; Liu, Xi; Chen, Yangmei
• Is Part Of: Seizure. Volume 48(2017)
• Page Start: 79
• Page End: 88
• Publication Date: 2017-05
• Subjects: BAFF -- BAFFR -- Temporal lobe epilepsy -- Immune and inflammatory reaction -- NF-κB pathway; Epilepsy -- Periodicals; Epilepsy -- Periodicals; Seizures -- Periodicals; Épilepsie -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; Electronic journals; 616.853
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2017.03.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1059-1311

Abstract

Highlights: BAFF and BAFFR are increased in TLE patients and pilocarpine-induced epilepsy rats. BAFF and BAFFR are mainly co-localized within neurons, but not in astrocytes. BAFF and BAFFR may promote the epileptogenesis by immune and inflammatory responses. Abstract: Purpose: Some studies have suggested that BAFF and BAFFR are highly expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) and participate in inflammatory and immune associated diseases. However, whether BAFF and BAFFR are involved in the pathogenesis of epilepsy remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the expression of BAFF and BAFFR proteins in the brains of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and in a pilocarpine-induced rat model of TLE to identify possible roles of the BAFF–BAFFR signaling pathway in epileptogenesis. Methods: Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), western blot, immunohistochemistry, and double-immunofluorescence were performed in this study. Results: The results showed that BAFF and BAFFR expression levels were markedly up-regulated in intractable TLE patients and TLE rats. Moreover, BAFF and BAFFR proteins mainly highly expressed in the membranes and cytoplasms of the dendritic marker MAP2 in the cortex and hippocampus. Conclusion: Therefore, the significant increased in BAFF and BAFFR protein expression in both TLE patients and rats suggest that BAFF and BAFFR may play important roles in regulating the pathogenesis of epilepsy.