title: Adenosine as a probing tool for the mechanistic study of acupuncture treatment.
abstract: To date, acupuncture has been widely used despite a lack of solid clinical evidence in the East and West. However, there are few validated in vitro models for the mechanistic studies of acupuncture. We hypothesized that adenosine could be used as a probing tool in the mechanistic studies of acupuncture because of its critical role in the action of acupuncture. Subsequently, we tested this hypothesis using both in vitro and in vivo experiments. First, we found that adenosine stimulation mimicked the effect of acupuncture on microRNA profiling (including miR-339, miR-145 and miR-451) and protein level (including Sirt2) in nerve growth factor-induced differentiated PC12 cells. These miRNA and proteins have been found to be regulated by acupuncture treatment in the brain of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Next, we found that adenosine stimulation downregulated miR-339 expression through adenosine A1 receptor-mediated pathway. Finally, we showed that the concentration of adenosine was actually decreased in the brain of spontaneously hypertensive rats after acupuncture treatment at Taichong acupoint. Taken together, these findings suggest that adenosine could be used as a useful probing tool for acupuncture mechanistic studies, while more validation studies are certainly warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, College of Fundamental Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Jia-You
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chun-Mei
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Jia-Lu
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xin-Sheng
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Shu-Feng
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000241:Adenosine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D016716:PC12 Cells; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction; D056565:Sirtuin 2 / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; C097475:Sirt2 protein, rat; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor; D056565:Sirtuin 2; D000241:Adenosine
keywords: Sirt2; acupuncture; adenosine; miR-145; miR-339; miR-451