INTRAAMYGDALA INFUSION OF AN END-CAPPED ANTISENSE OLIGODEOXYNUCLEOTIDE TO C-FOS ACCELERATES AMYGDALA KINDLING

The changes produced by repeated stimulation of the brain that result in the kindling effect remain unknown. It is known, however, that acti vation of immediate early genes including c-fos is a very early event in the development of kindling. Here we show that c-fos expression in the amygdala can be knocked-down by an end-capped antisense oligodeoxy nucleotide (but not by vehicle, or control antisense oligodeoxynucleot ides) and that this results in an acceleration of kindling. These resu lts suggest that, at least in the amygdala, the expression of c-fos is associated with an attempt by the brain to retard the development of kindling. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.