Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41978915›Full record

ArticleEpilepsia2026

The small molecule simufilam dose-dependently attenuates the worsening of seizures in a mouse model of tuberous sclerosis complex.

Branden Stansley, Md Monirul Islam, Dean J Aguiar, Zoë Fuchs, Mackenzie Catron, Stephen Morairty, Ying Yuan, Radleigh Santos, Jingguo Hou, Annelies de Kater and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Epilepsia, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Branden StansleyFilana Therapeutics, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA.
Md Monirul IslamDepartment of Neurosurgery and Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Dean J AguiarTSC Alliance®, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
Zoë FuchsTSC Alliance®, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1891-3196
Mackenzie CatronTranslational EEG, PsychoGenics, Inc., Paramus, New Jersey, USA.
Stephen MorairtyTranslational EEG, PsychoGenics, Inc., Paramus, New Jersey, USA.
Ying YuanDepartment of Biostatistics, Division of Discovery Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Radleigh SantosNova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
Jingguo HouEarly Phase Unit, Worldwide Clinical Trials, Austin, Texas, USA.
Annelies de KaterW/D Nonclinical Consulting Services, San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA.
George B ThorntonFilana Therapeutics, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA.
Angelique BordeyFilana Therapeutics, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA.

Funding

Filana Therapeutics, Inc.
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveNovel epilepsy treatments for patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and focal cortical dysplasia type II (FCDII) are urgently needed. In these patients, mutations in the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway genes lead to mTOR hyperactivity and focal cortical malformations that frequently cause intractable epilepsy and neurological sequelae. Recent evidence suggests that administration of simufilam, a small molecule thought to modulate the function of filamin A, reduces seizure activity independent of mTOR in a mouse model of FCDII. Here, we tested the hypothesis that simufilam treatment reduces seizure activity in a TSC mouse model and characterized its pharmacokinetic (PK) profile in wild-type mice.

methodsSeizure activity was recorded via electroencephalography (EEG) in juvenile Tsc1 conditional knockout (cKO) mice treated with simufilam or vehicle twice daily (BID). Simufilam plasma concentrations were measured at study termination using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. PK analysis was performed in CD1 mice following daily administration of simufilam for 1 or 7 days at two different doses.

resultsVehicle- and 5 mg/kg-treated Tsc1 cKO mice showed a significant increase in seizure frequency and total ictal duration between the first and the last 5 days of EEG monitoring (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < .05), whereas the 10- and 20-mg/kg-treated groups did not. In addition, simufilam treatment shifted the distribution of total ictal durations, with fewer mice exhibiting total ictal durations above the median of the vehicle-treated group (Fisher's exact test, p = .021). Increasing simufilam dose and plasma concentration were associated with fewer daily seizures recorded during the last 5 days of EEG monitoring (p = .017 and p = .012, respectively). Every 100 ng/mL increase in plasma concentration corresponded to a decrease of ~.2 seizures per day during the last 5-day period. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggest that simufilam treatment in a TSC mouse model prevented the worsening of seizure activity in a dose-dependent manner and supports clinical investigation of simufilam as a potential therapeutic intervention for seizures in TSC.

Indexed as

AnticonvulsantsSeizuresTuberous SclerosisAnimalsDisease Models, AnimalDose-Response Relationship, DrugElectroencephalographyMaleMiceMice, KnockoutTuberous Sclerosis Complex 1 ProteinAnticonvulsantsTsc1 protein, mouseTuberous Sclerosis Complex 1 Proteinepilepsyseizuresimufilamtsc1tuberous sclerosis complex

Identifiers

PMID41978915
PMCPMC13360897

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.