Irish scientists study how brain cells work to get new treatments for epilepsy.

Researchers at the National Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases (FutureNeuro) of the Royal Irish Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Severo Ochoa Centre for Molecular Biology (CBMSO) in Madrid and the Institute of Biomedical Research (IRB) in Barcelona, have found key new steps in the functioning of human brain cells in the most common forms of epilepsy, potentially bringing new treatments to patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.
the study was published in the latest issue of the journal Brain.
known in the medical community is critical in epilepsy.
, when a gene is active, it produces a molecule called messenger RNA.
as a template for producing proteins for brain cell function.
key step is to add a short sequence called poly(A) tail.
this has never been studied before in the field of epilepsy.
team found that this tailing process(polyadenosineization) causes significant changes in about a third of the genes of people with epilepsy, altering the production of proteins in the brain.
Findings could help us understand why gene activity varies in people with epilepsy," said Dr. Tobias Engel of the FutureNeuro Research Center.
believe that this may eventually lead us to new targeted treatments and try to prevent a person from developing epilepsy.
" epilepsy is one of the most common chronic brain diseases, affecting more than 65 million people worldwide.
although current medications are usually effective in suppressing seizures, they are ineffective in one-third of people with epilepsy and cannot be cured.
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