Cell-specific NFIA upregulation promotes epileptogenesis by TRPV4-mediated astrocyte reactivity.

Background: The astrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) exhibit morphological and functional diversity in brain region-specific pattern. Functional alterations of reactive astrocytes are commonly present in human temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) cases, meanwhile the neuroinflammation mediated by reactive astrocytes may advance the development of hippocampal epilepsy in animal models. Nuclear factor I-A (NFIA) may regulate astrocyte diversity in the adult brain.

Distinct mechanisms underlying therapeutic potentials of CD20 in neurological and neuromuscular disease.

Cluster of differentiation 20 (CD20) is an integral membrane protein expressed mainly on different developmental stages of B lymphocytes and rarely on T lymphocytes, and it functions as a link to B cell antigen receptor (BCR) and immune microenvironment via regulating calcium ion influx, cell cycle progression and interaction between isotypic BCRs and their co-receptors. Diverse therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting CD20 are generated and grouped into two types based on the ability to redistribute CD20 into lipid rafts, which results in huge differences in response. Currently, multiple anti-CD20 mAbs have been approved as drugs for neurological and neuromuscular diseases with promising clinical efficacy.

Inhibition of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) Mitigates Seizures.

Astrocytes are critical regulators of the immune/inflammatory response in several human central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Emerging evidence suggests that dysfunctional astrocytes are crucial players in seizures. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) in 4-aminopyridine (4-AP)-induced seizures and the underlying mechanism.

A retrospective study of branch atheromatous disease: Analyses of risk factors and prognosis.

The theory of branch atheromatous disease (BAD) has been commonly underused in clinical practice and research since it was proposed in 1989. In this study, we sought to explore clinical characteristics of its substypes and biomarkers for prognosis of BAD. A total of 176 consecutive patients with BAD were classified into two groups: paramedianpontine artery group (PPA group, n=70) and lenticulostriate artery group (LSA group, n=106).