Transcriptome profiling of hippocampus in pilocarpine-induced epileptic mice with or without TNFSF12 treatment

This study investigates the neuroprotective role of TNFSF12 in a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed on hippocampal tissue isolated from C57BL/6 mice subjected to pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus. Animals were divided into three experimental groups: (1) Sham-operated controls, (2) Epilepsy model (vehicle-treated), and (3) Epilepsy + TNFSF12 treatment. TNFSF12 was administered via stereotactic intrahippocampal injection 6 hours after seizure onset. Hippocampal samples were collected 7 days post-treatment for transcriptome profiling. RNA-seq analysis identified 664 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) enriched in neuroinflammation, neuronal excitability, and cell death pathways. Key hub genes (Map2k3, SCN1A, KCNQ2, GABRG2, EEF1A2) were validated by qRT-PCR. These data provide insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying TNFSF12-mediated protection against seizure-induced neuronal damage and highlight its therapeutic potential in epilepsy.