Neuroinflammation is considered a balanced inflammatory response important in the intrinsic repair process after injury or infection. Under chronic states of disease, injury, or infection, persistent neuroinflammation results in a heightened presence of cytokines, chemokines, and reactive oxygen species that result in tissue damage. In the CNS, the surrounding microglia normally contain macrophages and other innate immune cells that perform active immune surveillance. The resulting cytokines produced by these macrophages affect the growth, development, and responsiveness of the microglia present in both white and gray matter regions of the CNS. Controlling the levels of these cytokines ultimately improves neurocognitive function and results in the repair of lesions associated with neurologic disease. With the recent advances in high-throughput RNA sequencing and other technologies, investigators have begun to develop biomarker and diagnostic panels that further categorize the pathophysiology of epilepsy. Therefore, the goal of this research series is to highlight the innovative studies led by investigators that have employed new chemistries that can better predict the onset of epilepsy, and/or control cellular proliferation and differentiation pathways in cells of neuronal origin that contribute to an epileptic phenotype. These crucial studies with lay the groundwork that could significantly improve the currently employed clinical strategies to identify, diagnose, image, and treat those with various forms of epilepsy.

The goal of this research topic is to highlight new molecular pathways that fully explain the etiology of epilepsy, and that recapitulate the clinical manifestation of various epileptic phenotypes. The is to also emphasize the discovery of new molecular compounds of significant therapeutic value that substantially diminish seizure activity and other phenotypes associated with sporadic neuromuscular activation. Studies that discuss inflammatory regulatory cues, protein-protein modifications, non-coding RNA and epigenetic regulatory networks, as well as transcriptional feedback loops are considered relevant topics of interest. These crucial studies lay the groundwork for improving the currently employed clinical strategies to identify, diagnose, image, and treat those with various epileptic disorders.

We welcome manuscripts focused on, but not limited to, the following research areas:
• protein-protein modifications
• non-coding RNA networks
• epigenetic regulatory networks
• transcriptional feedback loops
• small drug compound discovery
• advances in medical devices

Article types and fees

This Issue accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Issue description:

• Brief Communication
• Commentary
• Editorial
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Review

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Issue accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Issue description:

• Brief Communication
• Commentary
• Editorial
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Review

Keywords: Epilepsy, non-coding RNA, chemistry, neural, biomedical technology