E1 mice epilepsy shows genetic polymorphism for S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase.

E1 mice are an animal model of human epilepsy (idiopathic complex partial seizures). We have previously demonstrated abrupt poly(A)(+) RNA expression in liver from 1-day-old E1 mouse [Mita et al., 1991. Devl. Brain Res. 64, 27-35]. In the present study, we constructed a cDNA library of the poly(A)(+) RNA. By analyzing cDNA clones and nucleotide sequences, we found a clone that was homologous to a rat gene of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (EC 3.3.1.1.) (SAHH) (a key enzyme in the active methyl transfer pathway) and showed the gene polymorphism/RFLP(PstI) between the epileptic strain, E1, and the non-epileptic mother strain, ddY, as indicated in a gel electrophoresis by cleaving 2.6 kb with PstI into 1.9 kb and 0.7 kb fragment bands. F1(E1xddY) showed the heterozygosity. An attempt to determine the mutation on the genomic SAHH gene in the E1 disclosed a single nucleotide polymorphism indicated by a C-->T transition in the 8th intron, by which the PstI site was created. SAHH enzymatic activity in the liver in 1-day-old E1 mice was slight (approximately 10%), and in fact was significantly lower than that of the control ddY. Results suggested that the abrupt primary mRNA transcribed on the SAHH gene in the liver of 1-day-old E1 mice was processed partially or incompletely because of the presence of the point mutation in the intron. Accordingly, poor energy supply by the insufficient SAHH enzymatic activity in the brain postnatally may be responsible for epileptogenesis in this animal model. It is concluded that a single nucleotide SAHH gene polymorphism may be associated with epilepsy in E1 mice.