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Nikitin ES, Postnikova TY, Proskurina EY, Borodinova AA, Ivanova V, Roshchin MV, Smirnova MP, Kelmanson I, Belousov VV, Balaban PM, Zaitsev AV. Overexpression of KCNN4 channels in principal neurons produces an anti-seizure effect without reducing their coding ability. Gene Ther 2024; 31:144-153. [PMID: 37968509 DOI: 10.1038/s41434-023-00427-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Gene therapy offers a potential alternative to the surgical treatment of epilepsy, which affects millions of people and is pharmacoresistant in ~30% of cases. Aimed at reducing the excitability of principal neurons, the engineered expression of K+ channels has been proposed as a treatment due to the outstanding ability of K+ channels to hyperpolarize neurons. However, the effects of K+ channel overexpression on cell physiology remain to be investigated. Here we report an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector designed to reduce epileptiform activity specifically in excitatory pyramidal neurons by expressing the human Ca2+-gated K+ channel KCNN4 (KCa3.1). Electrophysiological and pharmacological experiments in acute brain slices showed that KCNN4-transduced cells exhibited a Ca2+-dependent slow afterhyperpolarization that significantly decreased the ability of KCNN4-positive neurons to generate high-frequency spike trains without affecting their lower-frequency coding ability and action potential shapes. Antiepileptic activity tests showed potent suppression of pharmacologically induced seizures in vitro at both single cell and local field potential levels with decreased spiking during ictal discharges. Taken together, our findings strongly suggest that the AAV-based expression of the KCNN4 channel in excitatory neurons is a promising therapeutic intervention as gene therapy for epilepsy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evgeny S Nikitin
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, RAS, 117485, Moscow, Russia.
| | - Tatiana Y Postnikova
- Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry RAS, 194223, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Elena Y Proskurina
- Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry RAS, 194223, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | | | - Violetta Ivanova
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, RAS, 117485, Moscow, Russia
| | - Matvey V Roshchin
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, RAS, 117485, Moscow, Russia
| | - Maria P Smirnova
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, RAS, 117485, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ilya Kelmanson
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997, Moscow, Russia
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997, Moscow, Russia
| | - Vsevolod V Belousov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997, Moscow, Russia
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997, Moscow, Russia
- Federal Center of Brain Research and Neurotechnologies, Federal Medical Biological Agency, 117997, Moscow, Russia
- Life Improvement by Future Technologies (LIFT) Center, 143025, Moscow, Russia
| | - Pavel M Balaban
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, RAS, 117485, Moscow, Russia
| | - Aleksey V Zaitsev
- Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry RAS, 194223, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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