National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 27(117), p. 15977-15988, 2020
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Significance Temporal lobe epilepsy is commonly drug resistant and is associated with dysregulated hippocampal gene expression. MicroRNAs are short noncoding RNAs which control protein levels by binding target mRNAs via Argonaute proteins. We sequenced Argonaute-bound microRNAs from the hippocampus of three rodent epilepsy models, identifying common and unique functioning microRNAs at each stage of epileptogenesis. We designed oligonucleotide inhibitors against six microRNAs shared among models in chronic epilepsy and show three of these protected against acute and spontaneous seizures in a mouse model. We demonstrate that normal brain physiology is not obviously disrupted by these treatments and used a multiomics approach to identify a common mechanistic pathway for the therapeutic protective effects. Overall, these studies reveal potential treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy.