Journal of Pharmacopuncture (대한약침학회지)

KOREAN PHARMACOPUNCTURE INSTITUTE (대한약침학회)
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Transcriptome Analysis of the Striatum of Electroacupuncture-treated Naïve and Ischemic Stroke Mice

  • Hong Ju Lee (Department of Korean Medical Science, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Hwa Kyoung Shin (Department of Korean Medical Science, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Ji-Hwan Kim (Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Division of Clinical Medicine 4, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Byung Tae Choi (Department of Korean Medical Science, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University)
  • Received : 2024.04.26
  • Accepted : 2024.05.23
  • Published : 2024.06.30
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Abstract

Objectives: Electroacupuncture (EA) has been demonstrated to aid stroke recovery. However, few investigations have focused on identifying the potent molecular targets of EA by comparing EA stimulation between naïve and disease models. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify the potent molecular therapeutic mechanisms underlying EA stimulation in ischemic stroke through a comparison of mRNA sequencing data obtained from EA-treated naïve control and ischemic stroke mouse models. Methods: Using both naïve control and middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) mouse models, EA stimulation was administered at two acupoints, Baihui (GV20) and Dazhui (GV14), at a frequency of 2 Hz. Comprehensive assessments were conducted, including behavioral evaluations, RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), functional enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, and quantitative real-time PCR. Results: EA stimulation ameliorated the ischemic insult-induced motor dysfunction in mice with ischemic stroke. Comparative analysis between control vs. MCAO, control vs. control + EA, and MCAO vs. MCAO + EA revealed 4,407, 101, and 82 DEGs, respectively. Of these, 30, 7, and 1 were common across the respective groups. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses revealed upregulated DEGs associated with the regulation of inflammatory immune response in the MCAO vs. MCAO + EA comparison. Conversely, downregulated DEGs in the control vs. control + EA comparison were linked to neuronal development. PPI analysis revealed major clustering related to the regulation of cytokines, such as Cxcl9, Pcp2, Ccl11, and Cxcl13, in the common DEGs of MCAO vs. MCAO + EA, with Esp8l1 identified as the only common downregulated DEG in both EA-treated naïve and ischemic models. Conclusion: These findings underscore the diverse potent mechanisms of EA stimulation between naïve and ischemic stroke mice, albeit with few overlaps. However, the potent mechanisms underlying EA treatment in ischemic stroke models were associated with the regulation of inflammatory processes involving cytokines.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by a 2-Year Research Grant of Pusan National University.

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