Name
Hessel EVS
Section Neurodevelopment
Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology
Function:
Postdoc
email
e.v.s.hessel@umcutrecht.nltel +31-88-75 68830
Project
Identification of febrile convulsion susceptibility genes using mouse chromosome substitution strains
Summary
Febrile seizures (FS), which are the most common seizure types in children, affect about five percent of children. Complex FS may be involved in the development of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) during adulthood, but the underlying mechanism of FS remains unknown. Recently, association, family and twin studies indicated that genetic background could be important in FS, however there are two types of FS: familiar and sporadic FS. Therefore, identification of FS susceptibility genes is relevant to understand the molecular mechanism underlying FS and the relation with TLE. The aim of this study is identify febrile seizures susceptibility genes using mouse chromosome substitution strains.
Hyperthermia-induced seizures in the immature mouse will be used as a model to study the effect of febrile seizures in rodents. Immature mice of two different inbred strains the A/J and C57 will be exposed to a regulated warm air stream to induce seizures. During this period, mouse behavioral repertoire will be tracked and body temperature will be measured related to seizure susceptibility. These seizure susceptibility strain differences can be used in mouse chromosome substitution strains, to select a chromosome that differ from the host strain and finally identify quantitative trait loci on this selected chromosome involved in FS susceptibility. This could finally lead to a quantitative trait gene in the human population.