Global expression profiling of hippocampus in a mouse model for Mesio-Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

The Mesio-Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (MTLE) syndrome is the most common form of intractable epilepsies. It is characterized by the recurrence of focal seizures occurring in mesio-temporal limbic structures and is often associated with hippocampal sclerosis and drug resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms implicated in epileptogenesis in KA-induced MTLE in the mouse, in order to identify novel candidate therapeutic targets. For this purpose, the mouse model for MTLE obtained by intrahippocampal microinjection of kainate (KA;1 nmol/50 nL) was used in parallel with saline-injected animals as controls. The animals were decapitated 6, 12 or 24 hours post injection, the injected hippocampi were dissected and total RNA was extracted. Three RNA pools, from the hippocampi of 3 animals each, were created for each experimental condition (n=9 animals/time-point/treatment). Each pool of RNA was labeled and hybridized to a Mouse Genome 430 2.0 Affymetrix GeneChip.