Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that has long plagued humanity and shows no favorites in whom it afflicts. From Julius Caesar to the Russian writer Dostoevsky to populations in the modern era, there has been an ongoing search to not only understand the seizures it causes, but to find better epilepsy treatment methods to predict, control, and prevent them.
Now, an epilepsy research team from Imperial College in London, led by Dr. Enrico Petretto, has located and identified a specific network of genes that, when disrupted, triggers epilepsy. Labeled M30, it is an assembly of 320 genes found in those with monogenic epilepsy as well as common variations of polygenic epilepsy. When proteins in this network are affected by mutations, the study found, seizures are likely.
Nature of the Epilepsy Study
What makes this epilepsy research unique and promising is that this study examined not only gene networks in healthy subjects, but also analyzed mutation databases centered on gene networks that had been compiled from those with epilepsy. The study includes both hereditary and acquired forms of the disorder. This cross-matching of data allowed researchers to identify network anomalies that had not previously been identified. This breaks from the slow process of targeting genes or gene clusters one at a time. According to Dr. Petretto, “We were able to do this in a matter of few months…while a typical effort to identify anti-epileptic drugs would usually take years.”
As a result, the researchers believe that current anti-seizure medications, such as Vimpat and others can be used to target the M30 gene network. This could potentially create an improved and more effective approach to treating epilepsy, returning M30 to a healthy condition “by predicting a known anti-epileptic drug to target the network.”
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| Anti-seizure medications such as Vimpat can be used to target the M30 gene network. Source: nih.gov |
Impact
While further research is still needed, the impact of this study is potentially ground-breaking, as it presents a new therapeutic approach to epilepsy treatment. In addition, it gives anti-seizure medication research and development a more specific focus. If it is disruptions in the M30 network that trigger seizures, then pharmaceutical firms can set their sights specifically on these synaptic dysfunctions. The study also paves the way for future research into the causes of epilepsy.
