title: Genomewide analysis of rat periaqueductal gray-dorsal horn reveals time-, region- and frequency-specific mRNA expression changes in response to electroacupuncture stimulation.
abstract: Electroacupuncture (EA) has been widely applied for illness prevention, treatment or rehabilitation in the clinic, especially for pain management. However, the molecular events that induce these changes remain largely uncharacterized. The periaqueductal gray (PAG) and the spinal dorsal horn (DH) have been verified as two critical regions in the response to EA stimulation in EA analgesia. In this study, a genetic screen was conducted to delineate the gene expression profile in the PAG-DH regions of rats to explore the molecular events of the analgesic effect induced by low-frequency (2-Hz) and high-frequency (100-Hz) EAs. Microarray analysis at two different time points after EA stimulation revealed time-, region- and frequency-specific gene expression changes. These expression differences suggested that modulation of neural-immune interaction in the central nervous system played an important role during EA analgesia. Furthermore, low-frequency EA could regulate gene expression to a greater degree than high-frequency EA. Altogether, the present study offers, for the first time, a characterized transcriptional response pattern in the PAG-DH regions followed by EA stimulation and, thus, provides a solid experimental framework for future in-depth analysis of the mechanisms underlying EA-induced effects.
authors.affiliation: 1] Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai 201203, China [2] Laboratory of Integrative Medicine Surgery, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center; Key Laboratory of Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education/National Health and Family Planning Commission; Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences-Max Planck Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Li-Bo
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center; Key Laboratory of Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education/National Health and Family Planning Commission; Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center; Key Laboratory of Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education/National Health and Family Planning Commission; Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-jing
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Shou
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center; Key Laboratory of Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education/National Health and Family Planning Commission; Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Xing-Jie
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Ping
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center; Key Laboratory of Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education/National Health and Family Planning Commission; Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences-Max Planck Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Dong
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Ping
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute; Department of Neurobiology, Peking University Health Science Center; Key Laboratory of Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education/National Health and Family Planning Commission; Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Cai-Lian
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D015667:Acupuncture Analgesia; D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019295:Computational Biology; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D023281:Genomics; D008297:Male; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D059467:Transcriptome