A network of some 320 genes may underlie the development of epilepsy, British researchers reveal today.
The researchers say that epilepsy is triggered when the network – known as M30 – malfunctions.
The researchers at Imperial College, London, hope their findings will trigger a new wave of research into the treatment of the condition.
The findings have already pointed to severa new potential treatments for epilepsy including a compound derived from Indian ginseng – which has been used in traditional medicine to treat epilepsy.
Reporting in Genome Biology, the researchers say the network malfunctions in disease triggered by injury or infection as well as in disease thought to have genetic causes.
Working with scientists at the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, the researchers scanned thousands of genes and mutations and linked it to data from healthy human brains indicating networks of genes that work together.
Researcher Professor Michael Johnson said: “Until recently we have been looking for individual genes associated with diseases, which drug companies then target with treatments. However, we are increasingly aware that genes don’t work in isolation.
"Identifying groups of genes that work together, and then targeting these networks of genes, may lead to more effective treatments.
"Our proof of concept study suggests this network biology approach could help us identify new medications for epilepsy, and the methods can also be applied to other diseases.”
A. Delahaye-Duriez et al. Rare and common epilepsies converge on a shared gene regulatory network providing opportunities for novel antiepileptic drug discovery. Genome Biology 13 December 2016
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