Seizures in epilepsy can be caused by genetic factors or they can be triggered by injury. While we know that all brains are capable of generating seizures, we do not know why some brains do not develop them. A good example is epilepsy that develops as a result of an ischemic stroke. Only some of the people who have an ischemic stroke will develop epilepsy so it has long been conjectured that there are also other factors at play.
Researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem believe they may have found one of these factors in the form of a micro-gene.
The research, that has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, started out from the hypothesis that healthy brains do not have seizures when exposed to flashing lights or other triggers because of so-called short RNAs, otherwise known as rapidly inducible microRNAs.
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The new study revealed that once they had their levels of miR-211 lowered, the mice showed signs of epilepsy and a propensity for convulsions…This suggests that miR-211 has a neuroprotective role and is key in preventing epileptic seizures in genetically modified mice.
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