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Interneuron transplantation: a prospective surgical therapy for medically refractory epilepsy.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Harward, SC; Southwell, DG
Published in: Neurosurg Focus
April 1, 2020

Excitatory-inhibitory imbalance is central to epilepsy pathophysiology. Current surgical therapies for epilepsy, such as brain resection, laser ablation, and neurostimulation, target epileptic networks on macroscopic scales, without directly correcting the circuit-level aberrations responsible for seizures. The transplantation of inhibitory cortical interneurons represents a novel neurobiological method for modifying recipient neural circuits in a physiologically corrective manner. Transplanted immature interneurons have been found to disperse in the recipient brain parenchyma, where they develop elaborate structural morphologies, express histochemical markers of mature interneurons, and form functional inhibitory synapses onto recipient neurons. Transplanted interneurons also augment synaptic inhibition and alter recipient neural network synchrony, two physiological processes disrupted in various epilepsies. In rodent models of epilepsy, interneuron transplantation corrects recipient seizure phenotypes and associated behavioral abnormalities. As such, interneuron transplantation may represent a novel neurobiological approach to the surgical treatment of human epilepsy. Here, the authors describe the preclinical basis for applying interneuron transplantation to human epilepsy, discuss its potential clinical applications, and consider the translational hurdles to its development as a surgical therapy.

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Published In

Neurosurg Focus

DOI

EISSN

1092-0684

Publication Date

April 1, 2020

Volume

48

Issue

4

Start / End Page

E18

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Seizures
  • Prospective Studies
  • Neurons
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Interneurons
  • Humans
  • Hippocampus
  • Epilepsy
  • Brain
  • 3209 Neurosciences
 

Citation

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Harward, S. C., & Southwell, D. G. (2020). Interneuron transplantation: a prospective surgical therapy for medically refractory epilepsy. Neurosurg Focus, 48(4), E18. https://doi.org/10.3171/2020.2.FOCUS19955
Harward, Stephen C., and Derek G. Southwell. “Interneuron transplantation: a prospective surgical therapy for medically refractory epilepsy.Neurosurg Focus 48, no. 4 (April 1, 2020): E18. https://doi.org/10.3171/2020.2.FOCUS19955.
Harward SC, Southwell DG. Interneuron transplantation: a prospective surgical therapy for medically refractory epilepsy. Neurosurg Focus. 2020 Apr 1;48(4):E18.
Harward, Stephen C., and Derek G. Southwell. “Interneuron transplantation: a prospective surgical therapy for medically refractory epilepsy.Neurosurg Focus, vol. 48, no. 4, Apr. 2020, p. E18. Pubmed, doi:10.3171/2020.2.FOCUS19955.
Harward SC, Southwell DG. Interneuron transplantation: a prospective surgical therapy for medically refractory epilepsy. Neurosurg Focus. 2020 Apr 1;48(4):E18.

Published In

Neurosurg Focus

DOI

EISSN

1092-0684

Publication Date

April 1, 2020

Volume

48

Issue

4

Start / End Page

E18

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Seizures
  • Prospective Studies
  • Neurons
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Interneurons
  • Humans
  • Hippocampus
  • Epilepsy
  • Brain
  • 3209 Neurosciences