Objectives and Goals

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder which is characterised by spontaneous recurrent seizures. While some types of epilepsy are genetic most are acquired and can be caused by an event or trauma to the brain. this can include traumatic brain injury, stroke, prolonged febrile status epilepticus or an infection of the central nervous system. It is important that we continue to study the mechanisms of epilepsy development because for more than 30% of patients conventional anti-epileptic drugs are ineffective in preventing their seizures, additionally many patients with epilepsy also suffer from debilitating co-morbidities including depression, anxiety and cognition impairment. These comorbidities can often be as, if not more debilitating than the seizures themselves. Without a thorough understanding of the mechanisms which cause epilepsy we cannot develop novel therapies which can treat the underlying causes of the disease and not simply try to manage the seizures. EiMIRgen uses a series of novel cutting edge approaches towards elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which a normal brain becomes an epileptic brain. We hope that these discoveries can inform us of novel pathways or targets which can be exploited for the treatment of epilepsy.

To achieve the objectives of this project we are generating transgenic mouse models which allow the interrogation of miRNAs and pathways in individual cell types. This allows us to study the interplay between microRNAs and epigenetic pathways and assess the role of these pathways in epilepsy.