title: C-Fos proteins are not involved in the activation of preproenkephalin gene expression in rat brain by peripheral electric stimulation (electroacupuncture).
abstract: The present work was designed to study the role of the oncogene product c-Fos in activating the transcription of preproenkephalin (PPE) gene following a kind of peripheral electric stimulation known as electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation. The temporal patterns of rat brain c-fos and PPE mRNA expression were evaluated using the method of Northern blotting, showing that c-fos mRNA expression, which peaked at 2 h after the termination of EA, was always ahead of the PPE mRNA expression which began at 4 h and peaked at 48 h after EA. The methods of immunocytochemistry (ICC) and in situ hybridization (ISH) techniques were combined to identify the co-existence of c-Fos protein and PPE mRNA at the cellular level. The results showed that only a small percentage of PPE mRNA-containing neurons depicts Fos-like immunoreactive nuclei. These findings suggest that c-Fos protein may not be involved in the activation of brain PPE gene transcription induced by peripheral electric stimulation.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Center, Beijing Medical University, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004745:Enkephalins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; C033660:preproenkephalin