No abstract

Epilepsy is a prevalent and serious brain condition, characterized by the recurrence of unprovoked seizures. Disturbances on cellular processes, which are controlled by post‐transcriptional gene expression modulations such as microRNAs (miRNAs) can lower multiple proteins expressions within molecular pathways. In order to elucidate the role miRNAs exert in the hippocampus from rats with epilepsy induced by pilocarpine, expression of miRNAs was quantified by NanoString technology. Furthermore, miRNA targets were identified by in silico analysis. We observed strong changes in miRNA expression profiles in hippocampal cells derived from epileptic rats compared to the control. MiRNAs to be related to inflammation and oxidative stress were found differentially expressed in silico analysis. For instance, in hippocampal tissue, miR‐146 emerged, which are known to interact with interleukin‐6, a major player in inflammatory process. Expression change was observed for let‐7, which targets IL‐6 as well. Further differentially expressed miRNAs were related to oxidative stress and generation of reactive oxygen species, such as miR‐30e. Altogether, the data indicate that miRNAs are an interesting starting point for functional and mechanistic epilepsy research. Support or Funding Information 1) Universidade Nove de Julho, UNINOVE, São Paulo, Brazil 2) Universidade São Camilo, São Paulo, Brazil 3) Nova Southeastern University, NSU, Florida, USA