Upregulated dynamin 1 in an acute seizure model and in epileptic patients

Dynamin 1 is a neuron‐specific guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) that is an essential component of membrane fission during synaptic vesicle recycling and endocytosis. This study evaluated the dynamin 1 expression pattern in the acute lithium–pilocarpine rat model and in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and investigated whether altering the dynamin 1 expression pattern affects epileptic seizures in vivo and in vitro. The immunofluorescence, western blot analysis, and reverse transcription‐PCR results show that the dynamin 1 expression level increased significantly in experimental rats from day 1 to day 7 after the onset of seizures and was significantly higher in TLE patients. The behavioral study revealed that inhibiting dynamin 1 increased the latency time of the first seizure and decreased the frequency and severity of the seizures. In addition, electrophysiological recordings from brain slices showed that inhibiting dynamin 1 reduces the frequency of Mg‐free induced seizure‐like activity. The anticonvulsant effect of dynasore was more effective at 10 µM than at 1 µM or 160 µM. These results indicate that the altered level of dynamin 1 may contribute to the development of epileptic seizures and that the targeted regulation of dynamin 1 activity may control epileptic seizures. Synapse 69:67–77, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.