Cystatin C modulates neurodegeneration and neurogenesis following status epilepticus in mouse

Brain damaging insults cause alterations in neuronal networks that trigger epileptogenesis, and eventually lead to the appearance of spontaneous seizures. The present experiments were designed to study the cellular expression and functions of a cysteine proteinase inhibitor, cystatin C, whose gene expression is previously shown to be upregulated in the rat hippocampus during status epilepticus (SE)-induced epileptogenesis. The present data showed that the expression of cystatin C protein increased in the mouse hippocampus 7 days following SE and localized mainly to astrocytes and microglia. Acute neuronal death in the hippocampus at 24 h after SE was reduced in cystatin C-/- mice. Also, the basal level of neurogenesis in the subgranular layer of dentate gyrus was decreased in cystatin C-/- mice compared to wildtype littermates. Interestingly, migration of newly born neurons within the granule cell layer was attenuated in cystatin C-/- mice. These data demonstrate that cystatin C has a role in neuronal death and neurogenesis during SE-induced network reorganization.