Sequence matching analyses show that Clostridium tetani neurotoxin shares numerous pentapeptides (68, including multiple occurrences) with 42 human proteins that, when altered, have been associated with epilepsy. Such a peptide sharing is higher than expected, nonstochastic, and involves tetanus toxin-derived epitopes that have been validated as immunopositive in the human host. Of note, an unexpected high level of peptide matching is found in mitogen-activated protein kinase 10 (MK10), a protein selectively expressed in hippocampal areas. On the whole, the data indicate a potential for cross-reactivity between the neurotoxin and specific epilepsy-associated proteins and may help evaluate the potential risk for epilepsy following immune responses induced by tetanus infection. Moreover, this study may contribute to clarifying the etiopathogenesis of the different types of epilepsy. 1. Introduction The term epilepsy defines a group of disturbances whose only recognized commonality is the paroxysmal synchronous discharging of groups of neurons. Localization and physiological function of the neuronal populations involved determine the clinical picture, so that (1) clinical manifestations can be extremely subtle and the diagnosis can be challenging also in terms of differential definition; (2) epilepsy(ies) can produce extremely multiform clinical pictures with a large degree of overlap [1–3]. Indeed, epileptic syndromes can also be embedded in larger syndromic clinical pictures, that is, West and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes in tuberous sclerosis complex [4, 5]. This clinical diversity has noteworthy nosological implications. Syndromic or disease status of various forms of epilepsy and the terminology used to define them are indeed still matter of debate [7–9]. Likewise, the molecular etiopathogenesis of epilepsies has to be better defined at the molecular level. Although genetic alterations [10–12], inflammation [13], and viral infections [14–16] have been considered and thoroughly studied, nonetheless, the molecular basis and the causal mechanisms of epilepsies are still unclear. Recently, research on epilepsy has also outlined a neurodevelopmental context [17–21]. Spontaneous recurrent seizures have been observed after induction of status epilepticus during the second and third postnatal weeks in rodents, by use of chemoconvulsants such as pilocarpine, kainate, and tetanus toxin (TT) [22]. TT seizures as well as experimental febrile seizures and developmental lithium pilocarpine appear to share a common mechanism for enhancing hippocampal network
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