The Department of Physiology and Medical Physics have recently published two new pieces of research in the area of epilepsy in journal Brain and the PLoS One journal.

In a major study, appearing this week in the prestigious journal Brain, the group identified a gene that may protect the brain against seizures. Led by Dr Tobias Engel and Professor David Henshall and involving collaborators at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain, the study revealed that seizures activate a gene called CHOP. This gene had previously been linked to cancer but the authors found that CHOP does something quite different in the brain.

The researchers used a genetic technique to remove the gene from brain cells and found that this made the cells highly vulnerable to damage in epilepsy models. They linked this effect to a new signalling pathway, in which CHOP works to activate a second gene, called Mdm2, which itself puts a brake on cell death.

The study also involved Dr Norman Delanty and colleagues at Beaumont Hospital who provided brain tissue samples from patients with drug-resistant epilepsy which were found to also have altered levels of CHOP, indicating this pathway may be important in human epilepsy. Efforts will now turn to finding ways to control when this gene is turned on or off.

In a second study, published in PLoS One the same team used another genetic technique to increase levels of a protein called 14-3-3 in the brain. This protein works as a 'scaffold' or bridge, helping enzymes and cell functions including metabolism and cell cycle. Previous research had uncovered a role in helping brain cells cope with stress and the research showed that by increasing the levels of the protein in the brain, this could protect against prolonged seizures.

The studies were funded by Science Foundation Ireland and the Health Research Board.

Professor David Henshall, Principal Investigator, RCSI Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, said: "Our group is engaged in efforts to understand the effects of seizures on the brain and in particular, learning about the cell and molecular mechanisms responsible for epilepsy and identifying ways to protect the brain. This research has uncovered two important advances in the understanding of epilepsy."

Epilepsy is a common, chronic neurological disorder characterised by recurrent, unprovoked seizures that are the result of abnormally synchronised neuronal discharges in the brain. Epilepsy affects approximately 37,000 in Ireland.