Nandini Kolli
Research Mentor: Jonny Lifshitz
Mentor Department: Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Medicine
Author(s): Nandini Kolli, Dylan Vijan, Olivia Grooms, Jonathan Lifshitz
Session: Session 2 (10:00 AM – 10:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 54
Abstract
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. In some patients, seizures become intractable, meaning they cannot be controlled with medication and require surgical removal of the epileptogenic region. The resected tissue provides a valuable opportunity to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the disease. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is an astrocytic water channel that plays a critical role in regulating water movement around cerebral blood vessels and is typically localized to the astrocytic endfeet. Disruption of AQP4 localization can impair water homeostasis and contribute to epileptic pathology. However, the distribution of AQP4 in the pediatric epileptic cortex remains poorly understood. This study aims to examine AQP4 localization in resected cortical tissue from pediatric epilepsy patients, specifically investigating whether AQP4 is displaced from astrocytic endfeet into the neuropil or reduced around blood vessels, and whether these changes are associated with increased microglial activation. Histological sections from nineteen pediatric cortical epilepsy samples (5 female, 14 male; ages 1.3-18 years) will be immunostained with AQP4 antibodies to identify aquaporin channels. Adjacent sections have been stained with LN3 to label microglia. Tissue samples will be imaged using bright-field microscopy, and ImageJ will be used to quantify pixel intensity to assess localization and abundance in both the neuropil, surrounding blood vessels, and microglial staining. We do not expect sex to significantly influence AQP4 distribution. These findings will build upon existing research in adult epilepsy and contribute to the development of improved treatments for pediatric intractable epilepsy.
