title: Electroacupuncture remediates glial dysfunction and ameliorates neurodegeneration in the astrocytic α-synuclein mutant mouse model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The acupuncture or electroacupuncture (EA) shows the therapeutic effect on various neurodegenerative diseases. This effect was thought to be partially achieved by its ability to alleviate existing neuroinflammation and glial dysfunction. In this study, we systematically investigated the effect of EA on abnormal neurochemical changes and motor symptoms in a mouse neurodegenerative disease model.
  
  
  METHODS
  The transgenic mouse which expresses a mutant α-synuclein (α-syn) protein, A53T α-syn, in brain astrocytic cells was used. These mice exhibit extensive neuroinflammatory and motor phenotypes of neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, the effects of EA on these phenotypic changes were examined in these mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  EA improved the movement detected in multiple motor tests in A53T mutant mice. At the cellular level, EA significantly reduced the activation of microglia and prevented the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain and motor neurons in the spinal cord. At the molecular level, EA suppressed the abnormal elevation of proinflammatory factors (tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β) in the striatum and midbrain of A53T mice. In contrast, EA increased striatal and midbrain expression of a transcription factor, nuclear factor E2-related factor 2, and its downstream antioxidants (heme oxygenase-1 and glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunits).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that EA possesses the ability to ameliorate mutant α-syn-induced motor abnormalities. This ability may be due to that EA enhances both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities and suppresses aberrant glial activation in the diseased sites of brains.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China. jiahui_deng@sina.com.
authors.forename: Jiahui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China. shdlve@163.com.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China. kevinyangj@sina.com.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China. gxl802@ccmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China. zhagwenzhng@163.com.
authors.forename: Wenzhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. xliang1@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Xibin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China. sdmcwjz@126.com.
authors.forename: Jiazeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China. jiajun@ccmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China. xmwang@ccmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005721:Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C491049:Aif1 protein, mouse; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2; C495636:Nfe2l2 protein, mouse; D051844:alpha-Synuclein; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1; C496542:Hmox1 protein, mouse; C560749:GCLM protein, mouse; D005721:Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase