GABAergic Neuron Deficit As An Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy Mechanism: The Role Of BRD2 Haploinsufficiency In Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

Idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) syndromes represent about 30% of all epilepsies. They have strong, but elusive, genetic components and sex-specific seizure expression. Multiple linkage and population association studies have connected the bromodomain-containing gene BRD2 to forms of IGE. In mice, a null mutation at the homologous Brd2 locus results in embryonic lethality while heterozygous Brd2+/− mice are viable and overtly normal. However, using the flurothyl model, we now show, that compared to the Brd2+/+ littermates, Brd2+/− males have a decreased clonic, and females a decreased tonic-clonic, seizure threshold. Additionally, long-term EEG/video recordings captured spontaneous seizures in three out of five recorded Brd2+/− female mice. Anatomical analysis of specific regions of the brain further revealed significant differences in Brd2+/− vs +/+ mice. Specifically, there were decreases in the numbers of GABAergic (parvalbumin- or GAD67-immunopositive) neurons along the basal ganglia pathway, i.e., in the neocortex and striatum of Brd2+/− mice, compared to Brd2+/+ mice. There were also fewer GABAergic neurons in the substantia nigra reticulata (SNR), yet there was a minor, possibly compensatory increase in the GABA producing enzyme GAD67 in these SNR cells. Further, GAD67 expression in the superior colliculus and ventral medial thalamic nucleus, the main SNR outputs, was significantly decreased in Brd2+/− mice, further supporting GABA downregulation. Our data show that the non-channel-encoding, developmentally critical Brd2 gene is associated with i) sex-specific increases in seizure susceptibility, ii) the development of spontaneous seizures, and iii) seizure-related anatomical changes in the GABA system, supporting BRD2's involvement in human IGE

Formal Specification and Verification of the Intrusion--Tolerant Enclaves Protocol

Contains fulltext : 34746.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

On the correctness of an intrusion-tolerant group communication protocol

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Dimorphism of TAP-1 gene in Caucasian with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and in Tunisian with idiopathic generalized epilepsies

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is the most common form of idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGE) that account for about 5-10% of all types of epilepsies. The first putative locus termed EJM1 is on the human leucocyte antigen (HLA-II) region of chromosome 6p21.3. Interestingly, the EJM1 region includes the Transporter associated with antigen processing 1 (TAP-1) gene encoding the TAP-1, and previous studies have reported associations between HLA-II polymorphisms and different types of epilepsy. In this study, we report an association between two TAP-1 functional polymorphisms the I333V and the D637G and most common IGE in Tunisian population, but we fail to find significant results in Caucasian with JME

RecQ helicases: guardian angels of the DNA replication fork

Since the original observations made in James German's Laboratory that Bloom's syndrome cells lacking BLM exhibit a decreased rate of both DNA chain elongation and maturation of replication intermediates, a large body of evidence has supported the idea that BLM, and other members of the RecQ helicase family to which BLM belongs, play important roles in DNA replication. More recent evidence indicates roles for RecQ helicases in what can broadly be defined as replication fork 'repair' processes when, for example, forks encounter lesions or adducts in the template, or when forks stall due to lack of nucleotide precursors. More specifically, several roles in repair of damaged forks via homologous recombination pathways have been proposed. RecQ helicases are generally only recruited to sites of DNA replication following fork stalling or disruption, and they do so in a checkpoint-dependent manner. There, in addition to repair functions, they aid the stabilisation of stalled replication complexes and seem to contribute to the generation and/or transduction of signals that enforce S-phase checkpoints. RecQ helicases also interact physically and functionally with several key players in DNA replication, including RPA, PCNA, FEN1 and DNA polymerase delta. In this paper, we review the evidence that RecQ helicases contribute to the impressively high level of fidelity with which genome duplication is effected