Down-Regulation of CRMP-1 in Patients with Epilepsy and a Rat Model

The Collapsin Response Mediator Protein-1 (CRMP-1) is a brain specific protein identified as a signaling molecule of Semaphorin-3A and act as axon repellent guidance factor in nervous system. Recent studies indicated that axon guidance molecules may play a role in synaptic reorganization in the adult brain and thereby promote epileptogenesis. This study aimed to investigate expression pattern of CRMP-1 in epileptogenesis. Using double immunofluorescence labeling, immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis, we looked into the CRMP-1 expression in temporal neocortex from patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and histological normal temporal neocortex from the controls. We also studied the expression pattern of CRMP-1 in hippocampus and adjacent cortex of a TLE rat model on 6, 24, 72 h, 1, 2 weeks, 1 month, and 2 months post-seizure, and from control rats. CRMP-1 was mainly expressed in the neuronal cytoplasm in the temporal lobe of intractable TLE patients, which was co-expressed with -2. CRMP-1 expression was downregulated in temporal neocortical of TLE patients. In addition, in pilocarpine-induced animal model of epilepsy, CRMP-1 dynamically decreased in a range of 2 months. Thus, our results indicate that CRMP-1 may be involved in the development of TLE.