Impairment of dentate gyrus neuronal progenitor cell differentiation in a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy

Unilateral intrahippocampal injection of kainic acid (KA) in adult mice induces an epileptic focus replicating major histopathological features of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). In this model, neurogenesis is impaired in the lesioned dentate gyrus, although cell proliferation transiently is increased bilaterally in the subgranular zone (SGZ). To investigate further the relationship between epileptogenesis and neurogenesis, we compared the differentiation of cells born shortly before and after KA injection. Immunohistochemical staining for doublecortin and PSA-NCAM, two markers of young neurons, revealed a rapid downregulation of both markers ipsilaterally, whereas they were increased transiently on the contralateral side. To determine whether KA treatment directly affects neural progenitors in the SGZ, dividing cells were prelabeled with 5′-bromo-2′deoxyuridine (BrdU) treatment before unilateral injection of KA. Double staining with the proliferation marker PCNA showed that prelabeled BrdU cells survived KA exposure and proliferated bilaterally. Unexpectedly, the neuronal differentiation of these cells, as assessed after 2 weeks with doublecortin and NeuN triple-staining, occurred to the same extent as on the contralateral side. Only 5% of pre-labeled BrdU cells were GFAP-positive within the lesion. Therefore, SGZ progenitor cells committed to a neuronal phenotype before KA treatment complete their differentiation despite the rapid down-regulation of doublecortin and PSA-NCAM. These findings suggest impaired fate commitment and/or early differentiation of proliferating cells in the lesioned dentate gyrus. Loss of neurogenesis in this TLE model likely reflects an irreversible alteration of the SGZ germinal niche during development of the epileptic focus and may therefore be relevant for human TLE.