Malformations of cortical development (MCD) are critical brain development disorders associated with varied abnormalities in both anatomic structures and neural functioning. It is also a very common etiology to the epilepsy, in which the alteration on excitability of cortical neurons is hypothesized as one of important causes to the epileptic seizures. Due to the key role in regulating neuron firing properties, the plasticity of axon initial segment (AIS) was investigated in present study to further determine the relation between MCD and epilepsy. Our results showed a prolonged decrease in the length of AIS occurred in MCD animal models. Besides, the AIS was also found greatly shortened in MCD models during the acute, but not chronic phase of status epileptics compared with intact controls. Our findings of identification of AIS plasticity in MCD animal models and its hypersensitivity to status epilepsy are significant in furthering our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in this disorder.
Keywords: Axon initial segment; Cortical neurons; Epileptic seizures; Malformations of cortical development; Neural functioning.