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In Rasmussen encephalitis, hemichannels associated with microglial activation are linked to cortical pyramidal neuron coupling: a possible mechanism for cellular hyperexcitability.

ABSTRACT: Rasmussen encephalitis (RE) is a rare but devastating condition, mainly in children, characterized by sustained brain inflammation, atrophy of one cerebral hemisphere, epilepsy, and progressive cognitive deterioration. The etiology of RE-induced seizures associated with the inflammatory process remains unknown.Cortical tissue samples from children undergoing surgical resections for the treatment of RE (n = 16) and non-RE (n = 12) were compared using electrophysiological, morphological, and immunohistochemical techniques to examine neuronal properties and the relationship with microglial activation using the specific microglia/macrophage calcium-binding protein, IBA1 in conjunction with connexins and pannexin expression.Compared with non-RE cases, pyramidal neurons from RE cases displayed increased cell capacitance and reduced input resistance. However, neuronal somatic areas were not increased in size. Instead, intracellular injection of biocytin led to increased dye coupling between neurons from RE cases. By Western blot, expression of IBA1 and pannexin was increased while connexin 32 was decreased in RE cases compared with non-RE cases. IBA1 immunostaining overlapped with pannexin and connexin 36 in RE cases.In RE, these results support the notion that a possible mechanism for cellular hyperexcitability may be related to increased intercellular coupling from pannexin linked to increased microglial activation. Such findings suggest that a possible antiseizure treatment for RE may involve the use of gap junction blockers.

SUBMITTER: Cepeda C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4303544 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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In Rasmussen encephalitis, hemichannels associated with microglial activation are linked to cortical pyramidal neuron coupling: a possible mechanism for cellular hyperexcitability.

Cepeda Carlos C Chang Julia W JW Owens Geoffrey C GC Huynh My N MN Chen Jane Y JY Tran Conny C Vinters Harry V HV Levine Michael S MS Mathern Gary W GW

CNS neuroscience & therapeutics 20141201 2

<h4>Aims</h4>Rasmussen encephalitis (RE) is a rare but devastating condition, mainly in children, characterized by sustained brain inflammation, atrophy of one cerebral hemisphere, epilepsy, and progressive cognitive deterioration. The etiology of RE-induced seizures associated with the inflammatory process remains unknown.<h4>Methods</h4>Cortical tissue samples from children undergoing surgical resections for the treatment of RE (n = 16) and non-RE (n = 12) were compared using electrophysiologi ...[more]

PMID: 25438677

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Project description:BackgroundImmune-mediated mechanisms substantially contribute to the Rasmussen encephalitis (RE) pathology, but for unknown reasons, immunotherapy is generally ineffective in patients who have already developed intractable epilepsy; overall laboratory data regarding the effect of immunotherapy on patients with RE are limited. We analyzed multiple samples from seven differently treated children with RE and evaluated the effects of immunotherapies on neuroinflammation. Immunotherapy was introduced to all patients at the time of intractable epilepsy and they all had to undergo hemispherothomy.MethodsImmunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, Luminex multiplex bead and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques were combined to determine: 1) inflammatory changes and lymphocyte subpopulations in 45 brain tissues; 2) lymphocyte subpopulations and the levels of 12 chemokines/cytokines in 24 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples and 30 blood samples; and 3) the dynamics of these parameters in four RE patients from whom multiple samples were collected.ResultsSustained T cell-targeted therapy with cyclophosphamide, natalizumab, alemtuzumab, and intrathecal methotrexate (ITMTX), but not with azathioprine, substantially reduced inflammation in brain tissues. Despite the therapy, the distributions of CD8+ T cells and the levels of C-X-C motif ligand (CXCL) 10, CXCL13, and B cell activating factor (BAFF) in patients' CSF remained increased compared to controls. A therapeutic approach combining alemtuzumab and ITMTX was the most effective in producing simultaneous reductions in histopathological inflammatory findings and in the numbers of activated CD8+ T cells in the brain tissue, as well as in the overall CD8+ T cell population and chemokine/cytokine production in the CSF.ConclusionsWe provide evidence that various T cell-targeted immunotherapies reduced inflammation in the brains of RE patients. The observation that intractable epilepsy persisted in all of the patients suggests a relative independence of seizure activity on the presence of T cells in the brain later in the disease course. Thus, new therapeutic targets must be identified. CXCL10, CXCL13 and BAFF levels were substantially increased in CSF from all patients and their significance in RE pathology remains to be addressed.

Dataset Information

In Rasmussen encephalitis, hemichannels associated with microglial activation are linked to cortical pyramidal neuron coupling: a possible mechanism for cellular hyperexcitability.

Publications

In Rasmussen encephalitis, hemichannels associated with microglial activation are linked to cortical pyramidal neuron coupling: a possible mechanism for cellular hyperexcitability.

Similar Datasets

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