November 2020
New therapies for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy
Researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences have identified a critical new step in how brain cells function in people with one of the most common forms of epilepsy. This could lead to new treatment approaches for people with drug-resistant epilepsy.
Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic brain diseases, affecting over 65 million people worldwide. While current drug treatments are usually effective in suppressing seizures, they do not work in one third of people with epilepsy and have no effect on the underlying causes of the disease.
Changes in gene activity are known to be important in the development of epilepsy. Normally, a messenger RNA is produced when a gene is active. This becomes the template for the production of the proteins that brain cells use to function. A critical step is the addition of a short poly(A) tail sequence. This has never been studied before in epilepsy. The team discovered that this tailing process (polyadenylation) is dramatically altered for about one-third of the genes of someone with epilepsy, changing protein production in the brain.
This discovery adds another piece to the puzzle to help scientists understand why gene activity is different in someone with epilepsy. This has the potential to lead to new targeted treatments, paving the way for investigating if preventing the development of epilepsy is a possibility.
The study was led by researchers at FutureNeuro, the SFI Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases, hosted by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences with colleagues at Severo Ochoa-Centre for Molecular Biology (CBMSO) of Madrid and Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) of Barcelona. The research is published in Brain.
This research was co-funded by the Health Research Board, H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement.
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences is ranked number one globally for Good Health and Well-being in the Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings 2020. RCSI is among the top 250 of universities worldwide in the THE World University Rankings (2021) and its research is ranked first in Ireland for citations. It is an international not-for-profit university, with its headquarters in Dublin, focused on education and research to drive improvements in human health worldwide. RCSI has been awarded Athena Swan Bronze accreditation for positive gender practice in higher education.
From time to time, RCSI will share research and education news of legitimate interest to you as a valued peer and colleague. You are included in this audience based on one of the following: opt-in, recent RCSI education/research event participation, nomination by an education/research collaborator or peer at RCSI. If you wish to stop receiving this news, please click "unsubscribe" below. RCSI's Privacy Policy is available here.