The Journal of Neuroscience, December 1, 2002, 22(23):10088-10093
Identification of a Monogenic Locus (jams1)
Causing Juvenile Audiogenic Seizures in Mice
Hidemi
Misawa1, *,
Elliott H.
Sherr1, 2, *,
David
J.
Lee1,
Dane M.
Chetkovich1, 2,
Andrew
Tan1, 3,
Christoph E.
Schreiner1, 3, and
David S.
Bredt1
Departments of 1 Physiology, 2 Neurology,
and 3 Otolaryngology, University of California at San
Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California 94143-0444
Epilepsy is a debilitating disease with a strong genetic component.
Positional cloning has identified a few genes for rare monogenic
epilepsy syndromes; however, the genetics of common human epilepsies
are too complex to be analyzed easily by current techniques. Mouse
models of epilepsy can further this analysis by eliminating genetic
background heterogeneity and enabling the production of sufficient
numbers of offspring. Here, we report that Black Swiss mice have a
heretofore unrecognized specific susceptibility to audiogenic seizures.
These seizures are characterized by wild running, loss of righting
reflex, and tonic flexion and extension, and are followed by a
postictal period. The susceptibility to these seizures is
developmentally regulated, peaking at 21 d of age and nearly
disappearing by adulthood. Interestingly, both the susceptibility to
seizures and their developmental regulation appear unrelated to hearing
thresholds in the Black Swiss strain and backcrossed progeny. Genetic
mapping and linkage analysis of hybrid mice localize the seizure gene,
jams1 (juvenile audiogenic monogenic seizures), to a
1.6 ± 0.5 centimorgan (cM) region on mouse chromosome 10, delimited by the gene basigin (Bsg) and
marker D10Mit140. Interestingly, the majority of the
critical region is syntenic to a region on human chromosome 19p13.3
implicated in a familial form of juvenile febrile convulsions. Cloning
the gene for audiogenic seizures in these mice may provide important insight into the fundamental mechanisms for developmentally regulated human epilepsy syndromes.
Key words:
mouse audiogenic seizures; chromosome 10; febrile
seizures; chromosome 19p13.3; genetics; developmental regulation; auditory brainstem evoked response
*
H.M. and E.H.S. contributed equally to this work.