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RIKEN researchers have discovered how the structure of drugs for treating epilepsy allows them to interact with a key protein found in synapses at the junctions of neurons. This knowledge could help to design even better drugs for the condition.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes recurrent seizures and can strike without warning. It is thought to affect somewhere between 0.5% and 1% of the population.

Fortunately, powerful drugs are available for treating the neurological disorder, including levetiracetam and brivaracetam. But no one knows exactly how these drugs work.

Both drugs target a protein found in the small, membrane-bound sacs called synaptic vesicles that store and release neurotransmitters at the ends of neurons. This protein is known as synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A).

"The exact function of SV2A is unknown, although it must play a key role in synaptic transmission," says Atsushi Yamagata of the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research.

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