Abstract: Adenosine is an endogenous anticonvulsant transmitter in the brain. Recent researches suggest increasing site- and event-specific adenosine (adenosine augmentation therapies AATs) may become a novel therapy for epilepsy. Systemic pharmacological AATs are effective in seizure suppression, however accompanied by wide-spread side-effects. Therapeutic tools to achieve focal AAT, stem cells have been engineered to release therapeutic amounts of adenosine using RNA interference or gene targeting technology, providing robust protection from spontaneous seizures, but determining the most effective and compatible strategies with clinical applications needs more future research.

Key words: epilepsy, adenosine , adenosine kinase , cell therapy , gene therapy