Nucleotide Protein -3 in Epileptic Children

Epilepsy affects approximately 1% of the world population. Lifetime prevalence of childhood and adolescence epilepsy (children <18 years) in Upper Egypt was 9.7/1000, with higher prevalence among children <12 years (10.8/1000).

There is a clear cause for epilepsy in only a minority of the cases, while in up to70% of all case of epilepsy in adults and children, no cause can be discovered. Some of the main causes of epilepsy include: Low oxygen during birth, head injuries that occur during birth or from accidents during youth or adulthood, brain tumors, infections such as meningitis or encephalitis, stroke or any other type of damage to the brain.

A role of inflammatory molecules in the generation of seizures had been first investigated when selected anti-inflammatory treatments, in particular, steroids, immuno-globulins, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), were shown to control seizures in pediatric epilepsies refractory to conventional anticonvulsive drugs. In addition, specific epileptic disorders have been associated with the presence of neuronal antigen-directed antibodies in plasma or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

A nucleotide-binding oligomerization domains (NODs) are cytosolic proteins that include key regulators of apoptosis and pathogen resistance in mammals and plants. A large number of NODs contain leucine-rich repeats (LRRs), hence referred to as NOD-LRR proteins. The NLRP3 gene provides instructions for making a protein called cryopyrin. Cryopyrin is a member of a family of proteins called nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat containing (NLR) proteins. NLR family have two common features: the first is a nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain which is bound by ribonucleotide-phosphates (rNTP) and is important for self-oligomerization. The second is a C-terminal leucine-rich repeat, which serves as a ligand-recognition domain for other receptors (e.g. Toll like receptor (TLR)) or microbial ligands, while NLRP3 has been identified in microglial cells.