Journal Article

Reorganization of Basolateral Amygdala-Subiculum Circuitry in Mouse Epilepsy Model

Tang, Feng Ru, Qu, Jian Qiang, Goh, Eyleen L. K., Ma, Dong Liang

2016

Overview

In this study, we investigated the reorganized basolateral amygdala (BLA)-subiculum pathway in a status epilepticus (SE) mouse model with epileptic episodes induced by pilocarpine. We have previously observed a dramatic loss of neurons in the CA1-3 fields of the hippocampus in epileptic mice. Herein, we observed a 43-57% reduction in the number of neurons in the BLA of epileptic mice. However, injection of an anterograde tracer, Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) into the BLA indicated 25.63% increase in the number of PHA-L-immunopositive terminal-like structures in the ventral subiculum (v-Sub) of epileptic mice as compared to control mice. These data suggest that the projections from the basal nucleus at BLA to the vSub in epileptic mice are resistant to epilepsy-induced damage. Consequently, these epileptic mice exhibit partially impairment but not total loss of context-dependent fear memory. Epileptic mice also show increased c-Fos expression in the BLA and vSub when subjected to contextual memory test, suggesting the participation of these two brain areas in foot shock-dependent fear conditioning. These results indicate the presence of functional neural connections between the BLA-vSub regions that participate in learning and memory in epileptic mice.

• Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation,Frontiers Media S.A
• Subject: Amygdala / Basolateral Amygdala-Subiculum / Brain research / C-fos expression / c-Fos protein / Contextual fear memory / Convulsions & seizures / Epilepsy / Fear conditioning / Footshock / Gene expression / Hippocampus / Hospitals / Memory / Neuropathology / Neuroscience / Neurosciences / Physiology / Pilocarpine / Subiculum / Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE)