Background:

Epilepsy is a severe brain condition which causes people to have seizures. It is often caused by head injuries which can alter how our DNA and the genes contained within are expressed. These gene expression changes may drive the development of epilepsy by changing the basic properties of our cells.

Research:

In this study we tested whether a drug called JQ1 would impact epilepsy development in mice. This drug functions by targeting a protein called BRD4 which helps to regulate gene expression.

Potential Impact:

Unfortunately JQ1 treatment did not improve epilepsy outcome in mice however did change some of the features of the brain such as inflammatory properties and gene expression patterns. Overall while BRD4 may contribute to epilepsy development it is probably not a viable drug target for epilepsy prevention.