How can trauma lead to chronic seizures? Berkeley researcher
Daniela Kaufer found that only when albumin in the blood breaches the blood-brain barrier does the likelihood of post-traumatic epilepsy go up. Accelerated signaling between neurons results from this exposure, leaduing to seizures. “We were surprised, even a little disappointed, that it was such a
common component of the blood – nothing exotic at all – that led to
epilepsy,” recalls Kaufer, associate professor of integrative biology. She and colleagues went on to
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Daniela Kaufer in the lab |
show that albumin interacts with a ubiquitous cell protein
TGF-Beta receptor to cause the damage. In the healthy brain, TGF-Beta signaling affects activity of astrocytes, which normally limit
neuron-to-neuron firing signals across the synapse. But when albumin
stimulates TGF-Beta receptors, astrocytes lose some of their control.
Neuron signaling then spike dangerously, and promote the development of
epileptic seizures. As luck would have it, statin drugs block
TGF-Beta signaling. Kaufer
is now carrying out research to confirm that blocking abnormal TGF-Beta
activity can prevent epilepsy from a range of insults. “Right now, if someone comes to the emergency room with traumatic brain
injury, they have a 10 to 50 percent chance of developing epilepsy. But
you don’t know which ones, nor do you have a way of preventing it. And
epilepsy from brain injuries is the type most unresponsive to drugs." says Kaufer. “I’m very hopeful and that our research can spare these patients the added trauma of epilepsy.”
(Thanks to Dr. Doug "Scout" Shevlin for alerting me to this potentially groundbreaking research.)
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