Mice with a targeted disruption of the Cl-/HCO3- exchanger AE3 display a reduced seizure threshold

Mol Cell Biol. 2006 Jan;26(1):182-91. doi: 10.1128/MCB.26.1.182-191.2006.

Abstract

Neuronal activity results in significant pH shifts in neurons, glia, and interstitial space. Several transport mechanisms are involved in the fine-tuning and regulation of extra- and intracellular pH. The sodium-independent electroneutral anion exchangers (AEs) exchange intracellular bicarbonate for extracellular chloride and thereby lower the intracellular pH. Recently, a significant association was found with the variant Ala867Asp of the anion exchanger AE3, which is predominantly expressed in brain and heart, in a large cohort of patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. To analyze a possible involvement of AE3 dysfunction in the pathogenesis of seizures, we generated an AE3-knockout mouse model by targeted disruption of Slc4a3. AE3-knockout mice were apparently healthy, and neither displayed gross histological and behavioral abnormalities nor spontaneous seizures or spike wave complexes in electrocorticograms. However, the seizure threshold of AE3-knockout mice exposed to bicuculline, pentylenetetrazole, or pilocarpine was reduced, and seizure-induced mortality was significantly increased compared to wild-type littermates. In the pyramidal cell layer of the hippocampal CA3 region, where AE3 is strongly expressed, disruption of AE3 abolished sodium-independent chloride-bicarbonate exchange. These findings strongly support the hypothesis that AE3 modulates seizure susceptibility and, therefore, are of significance for understanding the role of intracellular pH in epilepsy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiporters / genetics*
  • Bicuculline / pharmacology
  • Brain / cytology
  • Brain / drug effects*
  • Brain / physiopathology
  • Chloride-Bicarbonate Antiporters / genetics*
  • Convulsants / pharmacology*
  • Dentate Gyrus / cytology
  • Dentate Gyrus / metabolism
  • Gene Targeting
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Pentylenetetrazole / pharmacology
  • Pilocarpine / pharmacology
  • Seizures / genetics*
  • Seizures / physiopathology
  • Sensory Thresholds

Substances

  • Antiporters
  • Chloride-Bicarbonate Antiporters
  • Convulsants
  • Slc4a3 protein, mouse
  • Pilocarpine
  • Pentylenetetrazole
  • Bicuculline