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Human epileptic astrocytes exhibit increased gap junction coupling
Author(s) -
Lee S. H.,
Magge S.,
Spencer D. D.,
Sontheimer H.,
CornellBell A. H.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
glia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.954
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1098-1136
pISSN - 0894-1491
DOI - 10.1002/glia.440150212
Subject(s) - gap junction , neuroscience , cortex (anatomy) , hippocampus , coupling (piping) , biology , astrocyte , epilepsy , intractable epilepsy , cerebral cortex , anatomy , intracellular , central nervous system , microbiology and biotechnology , materials science , metallurgy
Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleach (FRAP) was used to quantify astrocyte gap junction coupling from tissues surgically resected from medically intractable epilepsy patients. Mesial temporal lobe cases provided hippocampus, surrounding hyperexcitable parahippocampus and normal cortex for culture. Cortical tumor cases yielded astrocytoma proper, cortex margins with normal EEG activity, and hyperexcitable cortex. Cells isolated from cortex surrounding astrocytomas and the parahippocampus surrounding the hippocampus showed an increase in glutamate‐induced Ca 2+ oscillations and intercellular Ca 2+ waves. Gap‐junction coupling was more pronounced in cells isolated from hyperexcitable tissue than from normal tissues as judged by their faster and more complete fluorescence recovery from laser bleach [FRAP]. This data suggests that intractable epilepsy may be associated with alterations in glial gap junction coupling. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.