Status Epilepticus: Danse Macabre in a Ballet of Subunits
Authors: Mazarati Andrey , Sankar Raman 
Published: May 2006

Status Epilepticus Increases the Intracellular Accumulation of GABAA Receptors

Goodkin HP, Yeh JL, Kapur J

J Neurosci 2005;25:5511–5520

Status epilepticus is a neurological emergency that results in mortality and neurological morbidity. It has been postulated that the reduction of inhibitory transmission during status epilepticus results from a rapid modification of GABAA receptors. However, the mechanism(s) that contributes to this modification has not been elucidated. We report, using an in vitro model of status epilepticus combined with electrophysiological and cellular imaging techniques, that prolonged epileptiform bursting results in a reduction of GABA-mediated synaptic inhibition. Furthermore, we found that constitutive internalization of GABAA receptors is rapid and accelerated by the increased neuronal activity associated with seizures. Inhibition of neuronal activity reduced the rate of internalization. These findings suggest that the rate of GABAA receptor internalization is regulated by neuronal activity and its acceleration contributes to the reduction of inhibitory transmission observed during prolonged seizures.

Trafficking of GABAA Receptors, Loss of Inhibition, and a Mechanism for Pharmacoresistance in Status Epilepticus

Naylor DE, Liu H, Wasterlain CG

J Neurosci 2005;25:7724–7733

During status epilepticus (SE), GABAergic mechanisms fail and seizures become self-sustaining and pharmacoresistant. During lithiumpilocarpine-induced SE, our studies of postsynaptic GABAA receptors in dentate gyrus granule cells show a reduction in the amplitude of miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs). Anatomical studies show a reduction in the colocalization of the β2/ β3 and γ2 subunits of GABAA receptors with the presynaptic marker synaptophysin and an increase in the proportion of those subunits in the interior of dentate granule cells and other hippocampal neurons with SE. Unlike synaptic mIPSCs, the amplitude of extrasynaptic GABAA tonic currents is augmented during SE. Mathematical modeling suggests that the change of mIPSCs with SE reflects a decrease in the number of functional postsynaptic GABAA receptors. It also suggests that increases in extracellular [GABA] during SE can account for the tonic current changes and can affect postsynaptic receptor kinetics with a loss of paired-pulse inhibition. GABA exposure mimics the effects of SE on mIPSC and tonic GABAA current amplitudes in granule cells, consistent with the model predictions. These results provide a potential mechanism for the inhibitory loss that characterizes initiation of SE and for the pharmacoresistance to benzodiazepines, as a reduction of available functional GABAA postsynaptic receptors. Novel therapies for SE might be directed toward prevention or reversal of these losses.

Kainic Acid-Induced Status Epilepticus Alters GABA Receptor Subunit mRNA and Protein Expression in the Developing Rat Hippocampus

Lauren HB, Lopez-Picon FR, Korpi ER, Holopainen IE

J Neurochem 2005;94:1384–1394

Kainic acid-induced status epilepticus leads to structural and functional changes in inhibitory GABAA receptors in the adult rat hippocampus, but whether similar changes occur in the developing rat is not known. We have used in situ hybridization to study status epilepticus-induced changes in the GABAA α1– α5, β1– β3, γ1, and γ2 subunit mRNA expression in the hippocampus of 9-day-old rats during 1 week after the treatment. Immunocytochemistry was applied to detect the α1, α2, and β3 subunit proteins in the control and treated rats. In the saline-injected control rats, the α1 and α4 subunit mRNA expression significantly increased between the postnatal days 9 to 16, whereas those of α2, β3, and γ2 subunits decreased. The normal developmental changes in the expression of α1, α2, β3, and γ2 subunit mRNAs were altered after the treatment. The immunostainings with antibodies to α1, α2, and β3 subunits confirmed the in situ hybridization findings. No neuronal death was detected in any hippocampal subregion in the treated rats. Our results show that status epilepticus disturbs the normal developmental expression pattern of GABAA receptor subunit in the rat hippocampus during the sensitive postnatal period of brain development. These perturbations could result in altered functional and pharmacological properties of GABAA receptors.