Transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 is involved in the upregulation of connexin expression following pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in mice.

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 is involved in the upregulation of connexin expression following pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in mice.
Brain Res Bull. 2019 Jul 09;:
Authors: Men C, Wang Z, Zhou L, Qi M, An D, Xu W, Zhan Y, Chen L
Abstract
Epilepsy is characterized by spontaneous seizures. Changes in the expression of the connexins (Cxs) have been reported to be involved in epileptogenesis. It has previously been shown that the transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) plays an important role in the modulation of neuronal excitability, and that application of a TRPV4 antagonist blocks hyperthermia-induced seizures. Accordingly, in the present study, we sought to explore whether TRPV4 is involved in the regulation of Cx expression following pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (PISE) in mice. We observed that TRPV4 protein levels in hippocampi increased 3 h to 30 d following PISE, peaking 1 to 3 d after induction, and that pre-application of the TRPV4 antagonist HC-067047 increased the latency to develop SE induced by pilocarpine and reduced the success rate of PISE preparation. We demonstrated that Cx43 protein levels followed a time profile similar to that of TRPV4, and further showed that the increase in Cx43 protein levels on 3 d post-PISE was markedly attenuated by HC-067047. In contrast, the corresponding increase in Cx32 protein levels lagged substantially behind, and these levels were unaffected by...

Source: Brain Research Bulletin - July 8, 2019 Category: Neurology Authors: Men C, Wang Z, Zhou L, Qi M, An D, Xu W, Zhan Y, Chen L Tags: Brain Res Bull Source Type: research