Transcriptomic profiling of high- and low-spiking regions reveals novel epileptogenic mechanisms in focal cortical dysplasia type II patients

Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is a malformation of the cerebral cortex with poorly-defined epileptogenic zones (EZs), and poor surgical outcome in FCD is associated with inaccurate localization of the EZ. Hence, identifying novel epileptogenic markers to aid in the localization of EZ in patients with FCD is very much needed. High-throughput gene expression studies of FCD samples have the potential to uncover molecular changes underlying the epileptogenic process and identify novel markers for delineating the EZ. For this purpose, we, for the first time performed RNA sequencing of surgically resected paired tissue samples obtained from electrocorticographically graded high (MAX) and low spiking (MIN) regions of FCD type II patients and autopsy controls. We identified significant changes in the MAX samples of the FCD type II patients when compared to non-epileptic controls, but not in the case of MIN samples. We found significant enrichment for myelination, oligodendrocyte development and differentiation, neuronal and axon ensheathment, phospholipid metabolism, cell adhesion and cytoskeleton, semaphorins, and ion channels in the MAX region. Through the integration of both MAX vs non-epileptic control and MAX vs MIN RNA sequencing (RNA Seq) data, PLP1, PLLP, UGT8, KLK6, SOX10, MOG, MAG, MOBP, ANLN, ERMN, SPP1, CLDN11, TNC, GPR37, SLC12A2, ABCA2, ABCA8, ASPA, P2RX7, CERS2, MAP4K4, TF, CTGF, Semaphorins, Opalin, FGFs, CALB2, and TNC were identified as potential key regulators of multiple pathways related to FCD type II pathology. We have identified novel epileptogenic marker elements that may contribute to epileptogenicity in patients with FCD and could be possible markers for the localization of EZ. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13041-021-00832-4.