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What New Modeling Approaches Will Help Us Identify Promising Drug Treatments?

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Book cover Issues in Clinical Epileptology: A View from the Bench

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 813))

Abstract

Despite the development of numerous novel antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in recent years, several unmet clinical needs remain, including resistance to AEDs in about 30 % of patients with epilepsy, adverse effects of AEDs that can reduce quality of life, and the lack of treatments that can prevent development of epilepsy in patients at risk. Animal models of seizures and epilepsy have been instrumental in the discovery and preclinical development of novel AEDs, but obviously the previously used models have failed to identify drugs that address unmet medical needs. Thus, we urgently need fresh ideas for improving preclinical AED development. In this review, a number of promising models will be described, including the use of simple vertebrates such as zebrafish (Danio rerio), large animal models such as the dog and newly characterized rodent models of pharmacoresistant epilepsy. While these strategies, like any animal model approach also have their limitations, they offer hope that new more effective AEDs will be identified in the coming years.

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Acknowledgements

With gratitude and special thanks to Scott Baraban’s postdoctoral mentor Phil Schwartzkroin. Scott’s years in Seattle were rich in scientific interactions and opportunities. The environment created by Phil and Scott’s fellow trainees (Daryl Hochman, Jim Owens, Catherine Woolley and Jurgen Wenzel) was conducive to open discussion, lively debate and exciting discoveries. Phil’s scholarly approach to science and passion for epilepsy research was a guiding force in Scott’s career. With the laboratory at UCSF, Scott strives to carry on some of these same principles. Wolfgang Löscher acknowledges the many thoughtful and constructive discussions with Phil that he had as an author of invited reviews in Epilepsia during the many years that Phil acted as a Managing Editor for this journal.

Other Acknowledgements Scott Baraban acknowledges funding from the National Institutes of Health, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy and Dravet Syndrome Foundation, and Wolfgang Löscher funding from the German Research Foundation, the FP7 program of the European Commission and the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epilepsy Research Laboratory, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Scott C. Baraban

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, 30559, Germany

    Wolfgang Löscher

  3. Center for Systems Neuroscience, Hannover, 30559, Germany

    Wolfgang Löscher

Authors
  1. Scott C. Baraban
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  2. Wolfgang Löscher
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Correspondence to Scott C. Baraban or Wolfgang Löscher .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Child & Adoles. Psych., Phys. & Neurosc., and Psych., New York Univ. Langone Med. Ctr., Orangeburg, New York, USA

    Helen E. Scharfman

  2. Dept. of Comp. Med. and Neurol. & Neurol. Scs., Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

    Paul S. Buckmaster

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Baraban, S.C., Löscher, W. (2014). What New Modeling Approaches Will Help Us Identify Promising Drug Treatments?. In: Scharfman, H., Buckmaster, P. (eds) Issues in Clinical Epileptology: A View from the Bench. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 813. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8914-1_23

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