Elevated Expression of VEGF-C and Its Receptors, VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3, in Patients with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

• Published in: Journal of molecular neuroscience 2016-06, Vol.59 (2), p.241-250
• Main Authors: Sun, Fei-Ji, Wei, Yu-Jia, Li, Song, Guo, Wei, Chen, Xin, Liu, Shi-Yong, He, Jiao-Jiang, Yin, Qing, Yang, Hui, Zhang, Chun-Qing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Angiogenesis; Astrocytes - metabolism; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain; Case-Control Studies; Cell Biology; Convulsions & seizures; Drug resistance; Epilepsy; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - genetics; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - metabolism; Female; Hippocampus - cytology; Hippocampus - metabolism; Hospitals; Humans; Kinases; Male; Neocortex - cytology; Neocortex - metabolism; Neurochemistry; Neurogenesis; Neurology; Neurons - metabolism; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Polymerase chain reaction; Proteomics; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C - genetics; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C - metabolism; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 - genetics; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 - metabolism; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 - genetics; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 - metabolism
• ISSN: 0895-8696; 1559-1166
• DOI: 10.1007/s12031-016-0714-y

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is a frequent form of focal intractable epilepsy in adults. We previously reported overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and its receptors, VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3, in epilepsy-associated tuberous sclerosis complex. To identify whether VEGF-C and its receptors are involved in epileptogenesis of MTLE, we investigated the levels and expression pattern of VEGF-C and its receptors in temporal neocortex and hippocampus (HPC) from 28 patients with MTLE and ten control (CTX) subjects. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting results revealed upregulated mRNA and immunoreactive protein levels of VEGF-C, VEGFR-2, and VEGFR-3 in the MTLE group compared to the control groups. Immunohistochemistry and double-labeled immunofluorescence showed that VEGF-C was highly expressed in neurons and astrocytes, including reactive astrocytes and vascular endothelial cells, VEGFR-2 was expressed at a high level in reactive astrocytes and vascular endothelial cells, but not in neurons, whereas VEGFR-3 was only overexpressed in reactive astrocytes. Taken together, these findings suggest that VEGF-C and its receptors, VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3, may contribute to the epileptogenesis of MTLE.