Authors :
Presenting Author: LU CHEN, PhD – Beijing tiantan hospital, Capital Medical University,China
QIAN WU, PhD – First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University
Qun Wang, MD – Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University
Rationale:
In temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), astrogliosis and microglial activation synergistically drive abnormal neural network synchronization and the emergence of spontaneous recurrent seizures. Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), located on chromosome 1p, encodes a protein critical for neurodevelopmental. Our prior work in pilocarpine-induced epilepsy models revealed significant DISC1 downregulation and spatial proximity to astrocytes in the hippocampal hilus. However, the role of DISC1 in modulating astrocytic and microglial responses during epileptogenesis remains unclear.
Methods:
Adult male SPF-grade C57BL/6 mice (18−22g) were randomized into kainic acid-induced epilepsy (20 mg/kg i.p.) or saline-control groups. Tissues were collected at 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks post-status epilepticus (SE). DISC1 expression was quantified via western blotting. Immunofluorescence assessed DISC1 co-localization relative to NeuN (neurons), GFAP (astrocytes), and Iba1 (microglia) across hippocampal subregions.
Results:
Western blot analysis revealed DISC1 significant downregulation at 1 week post-SE (P< 0.01). Immunofluorescence showed decreased DISC1 in the hilus, dentate gyrus (DG), CA1, and CA3 at week 1, followed by increased expression in the hilus, CA1, and CA3 by week 4. GFAP+ astrocytes increased markedly at weeks 1