Epilepsy and the Wnt Signaling Pathway
Abstract
Epileptogenesis is a gradual process by which normal brain transforms into one that sustains seizures. It is instigated by an inciting event (e.g. prolonged seizure called status epilepticus (SE), head injury, infection or stroke). This is followed by a variable (months to years in humans) latent period followed by the emergence of spontaneous seizures, with potential for later mood and learning disabilities. While the latent period is a time during which behavioral seizures are not observed, it is a period of tissue and cellular remodeling that sets up the development of chronic seizure activity, or epilepsy. In this grant, we have drawn expertise from other fields to discover new mechanistic insights into epileptogenesis. In the past year, we have expanded our understanding of molecular mechanisms and uncovered new possible insights for therapeutics with a drug combination that we had been developing for breast cancer treatment. Surprisingly, the combination attenuates seizures in two different models of temporal lobe epilepsy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- AD1017782
Entities
People
- Amy S. Yee
- Audrey S. Yee
Organizations
- Tufts University School of Medicine