TIPS review
Proto-oncogene transcription factors and epilepsy

https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-6147(91)90594-IGet rights and content

Abstract

Chemically and electrically induced seizures elicit the rapid transcriptional activation in neurons of a class of genes referred to as cellular immediate-early genes. Since the products of these genes include transcription factors and cytokines, they are proposed to be involved in coupling neuronal excitation to a complex, and poorly understood, programme of cellular responses that involves the regulation of gene expression. Products of two cellular immediate-early genes, c-fos and c-jun, are components of the transcription factor AP-1. In this review, Jim Morgan and Tom Curran discuss how these gene products have begun to reveal some of the molecular details of stimulus-transcription coupling in the nervous system following seizures. In addition, these genes have provided novel reagents and concepts for investigating the biochemical and cellular sequelae of seizure in the CNS, and point towards new avenues of research and potential therapeutic targets in epilepsy.

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      Thec-fos expression is considered as a marker of neuronal activity in the mammalian nervous system. c-fos is a proto-oncogene that encodes a DNA binding phosphoprotein Fos which forms a dimeric complex with Jun protein and activates transcription factor activator protein-1 (Morgan and Curran, 1991; Jensen et al., 1993). Studies have shown in vitro activation of c-fos on the depolarization of neural cells (Labiner et al., 1993).

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