Proteomic analysis on infantile spasm and prenatal stress

Abstract

Infantile spasms (IS) are an age-dependent epileptic encephalopathy with severe cognitive dysfunction. Prenatal stress (PS) has been reported to increase the risk for IS through clinical and animal studies. We aim to investigate the mechanism of brain damage caused by IS and the effect of PS. Animals were divided into 4 groups: PS-spasm model, PS-saline control, NS-spasm model, and saline control. N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) was used to induce spasm and swimming in cold water was used to induce PS. A proteomics-based approach was used to compare the NS-spasm model vs. saline control, and PS-spasm model vs. NS-spasm model. Gel image analysis was followed by mass spectrometric protein identification and bioinformatics analysis. We observed an increased spasm frequency (t=8.65, P<0.001), and a shorter latency period (t=3.96, P<0.001) in the PS-spasm model vs. the NS-spasm model. In the NS-spasm model vs. saline control, the main differentially expressed proteins were CFL1, PKM2, PRPS2, DLAT, CKB, DPYSL3, and SNAP25. In the PS-spasm model vs. NS-spasm model, MDH1 and YWHAZ were differentially expressed. YWHAZ was directly connected with CFL1 in protein networks. YWHAZ and CFL1 were further validated by Western blot analysis. The biological function of differentially expressed proteins indicates the pathogenesis of IS maybe relevant to energy metabolism, brain development, and neural remodeling. PS aggravated seizures in the NMDA-induced spasm model, YWHAZ, and CFL1 may be involved.