Altered expression of synaptotagmin I in temporal lobe tissue of patients with refractory epilepsy

Synaptotagmin I is a key synaptic protein involved in both exocytosis and endocytosis. We aimed to investigate Synaptotagmin I expression in the anterior temporal neocortex of epilepsy patients, and to explore the possible role of Synaptotagmin I in refractory epilepsy. In the present study, 30 epilepsy patients were divided into refractory epilepsy and non-refractory epilepsy groups, another 15 histologically normal anterior temporal lobes from head trauma patients were used as control group. The results were compared among different groups. The findings were consistently observed using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting technique. Synaptotagmin I was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm and cytomembrane of neurons. The expression of Synaptotagmin I in refractory epilepsy group was significantly higher than that in the control and non-refractory epilepsy groups. These findings provide new information in the epileptogenesis of refractory epilepsy, and suggest that Synaptotagmin I might be involved in human refractory epilepsy. Further studies will be required to elucidate the mechanism by which Synaptotagmin I plays role in refractory epilepsy.