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Epilepsy-induced changes in signaling systems of human and rat postsynaptic densities
Ursula Wyneken1, Juan-Jose Marengo, Sergio Villanueva
1Laboratorio de Neurociencias, Universidad de los , Santiago, Chile. uwyneken@uandes.cl
Purpose:
To study seizure-induced changes in signaling proteins present in postsynaptic densities (PSDs) isolated from human epileptic neocortex and from rat cortex in which seizures were induced by injection of kainic acid.
Methods:
We performed Western blot analysis of signaling proteins in PSDs isolated from cortical tissue.
Results:
Seizures induce a strong upregulation of TrkB, the receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), whereas components of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor complex are downregulated in both human and rat PSDs.
Conclusions:
These data show that long-term changes in PSD composition occur as a consequence of epileptic seizure activity.