Abstracts

Mutations in [italic]LGI1[/italic] gene were described in patients with autosomal dominant lateral temporal lobe epilepsy and preliminary functional studies point to a possible involvement of [italic]LGI1 [/italic]with migration and/or neuronal proliferation. However, the precise function [italic]LGI1[/italic] remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to determine the expression pattern of the [italic]Lgi1[/italic] gene in mice brain during development and in adult animals., Programmed mating was carried with Balb/c mice in order to obtain embryos of different ages. The brains of three animals at the following ages were removed: E15, E17, E18 days (E: embryo), P1, P7, P14, P28, P42 and P56 days (P: post-natal). Gene expression assays were carried out using real time PCR with the TaqMan[trade] system. In addition we used an endogenous control ([italic]Gapdh[/italic] gene) and all experiments were performed in duplicates., [italic]Lgi1 [/italic]gene expression was significantly low during the intra-uterine ages increasing gradually until P56 (adult animal). Samples from P28, P42 and P56 presented a seven fold increase in expression as compared to E15 samples., The pattern of[italic] Lgi1 [/italic]gene expression that we observed suggests a predominantly inhibitory function during development of the central nervous system (low expression during embryonic stages). In addition, we may speculate that in more advanced ages, when neurons are already differentiated, its inhibitory function could be also essential, which can be suggested by the high expression in adult mouse brain., (Supported by CNPQ and FAPESP.)