Focused Review Article
Double trouble? Potential for hyperexcitability following both channelopathic up- and downregulation of Ih in epilepsy
1
Harvard Medical School, USA
2
Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
3
Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California - Irvine, USA
Studies of pathological ion channel regulation as an underlying mechanism of epilepsy have revealed alterations of the h-current in several animal models. While prior reports indicate that downregulation of the h-current is pro-excitatory on the single neuron level, we recently found an upregulation of Ih in hyperexcitable CA1 pyramidal neuron dendrites following experimental febrile seizures. In addition, in several CA1 pyramidal neuron computational models of different complexity, h-current upregulation has been shown to lead to pro-excitable effects. This focused review examines the complex impact of altered h-current on neuronal resting membrane potential (RMP) and input resistance (Rin), as well as reported interactions with other ionic conductances.
Copyright: © 2009 Dyhrfjeld-Johnsen, Morgan and Soltesz. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
*Correspondence: Dr. Jonas Dyhrfjeld-Johnsen, MGH Neurology, CNY B-114, Rm. 2502, 16th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA, jdyhrfjeld-johnsen@partners.org
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