Altered microRNA profiles in plasma exosomes from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.

// Shaofeng Yan 1 , Hua Zhang 1 , Wenyan Xie 2 , Fangang Meng 3 , Kai Zhang 1 , Yin Jiang 3 , Xin Zhang 3 , Jianguo Zhang 1, 3 1 Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China 2 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Qian Fo Shan Hospital of Shandong Province, Jinan, Shandong Province, China 3 Department of Functional Neurosurgery, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China Correspondence to: Jianguo Zhang, email: zjguo73@126.com Keywords: exosome, microRNA, epilepsy, hippocampal sclerosis Received: September 22, 2016      Accepted: November 23, 2016      Published: December 01, 2016 ABSTRACT Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (mTLE-HS) is the most common type of focal epilepsy. The present study aimed to explore the expression and functions of exosomal microRNAs in mTLE-HS. A total of 50 microRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in mTLE-HS compared with healthy controls. Among them, 2 were increased and 48 were decreased. The 6 significant differentially expressed candidate microRNAs (miR-3613-5p, miR-4668-5p, miR-8071, miR-197-5p, miR-4322, and miR-6781-5p ) in exosome were validated. The bioinformatics analysis showed that the potential target genes of these microRNAs were involved in biological processes, molecular functions, and cellular components. Similarly, these microRNAs also affected axon guidance, pathways in cancer, regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, focal adhesion, the calcium signaling pathway, the MAPK signaling pathway, and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Among 6 candidate microRNAs, miR-8071 had the best diagnostic value for mTLE-HS with 83.33% sensitivity and 96.67% specificity, and was associated with seizure severity. This study indicated that exosomal microRNAs, may be regulators for the seizure development in mTLE-HS, and can be used as potential therapeutic targets and biomarker for diagnosis in mTLE-HS.