School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, via Cadore 48, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Oct 2;20(19):4898. doi: 10.3390/ijms20194898.
Epilepsy represents one of the most common neurological disorders characterized by abnormal electrical activity in the central nervous system (CNS). Recurrent seizures are the cardinal clinical manifestation. Although it has been reported that the underlying pathological processes include inflammation, changes in synaptic strength, apoptosis, and ion channels dysfunction, currently the pathogenesis of epilepsy is not yet completely understood. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of long transcripts without protein-coding capacity, have emerged as regulatory molecules that are involved in a wide variety of biological processes. A growing number of studies reported that lncRNAs participate in the regulation of pathological processes of epilepsy and they are dysregulated during epileptogenesis. Moreover, an aberrant expression of lncRNAs linked to epilepsy has been observed both in patients and in animal models. In this review, we summarize latest advances concerning the mechanisms of action and the involvement of the most dysregulated lncRNAs in epilepsy. However, the functional roles of lncRNAs in the disease pathogenesis are still to be explored and we are only at the beginning. Additional studies are needed for the complete understanding of the underlying mechanisms and they would result in the use of lncRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets.
癫痫是最常见的神经系统疾病之一，其特征是中枢神经系统（CNS）中异常的电活动。反复发作的癫痫发作是主要的临床症状。尽管已经报道潜在的病理过程包括炎症、突触强度变化、细胞凋亡和离子通道功能障碍，但目前癫痫的发病机制尚不完全清楚。长非编码 RNA（lncRNA）是一类没有编码蛋白能力的长转录物，作为调节分子，参与了广泛的生物学过程。越来越多的研究表明，lncRNA 参与了癫痫病理过程的调节，并且在癫痫发生过程中失调。此外，在患者和动物模型中都观察到与癫痫相关的 lncRNA 的异常表达。在这篇综述中，我们总结了关于 lncRNA 在癫痫中的作用机制及其最失调的 lncRNA 参与的最新进展。然而，lncRNA 在疾病发病机制中的功能作用仍有待探索，我们才刚刚开始。需要进一步的研究来完全了解潜在的机制，这将导致将 lncRNA 用作诊断生物标志物和新的治疗靶点。
