Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2016, Vol. 11 ›› Issue (2): 305-311.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.177740

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Manual acupuncture at the SJ5 (Waiguan) acupoint shows neuroprotective effects by regulating expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2

Dong Lin 1, Li-li Lin 1, Kyle Sutherland 2, Chuan-hai Cao 2   

  1. 1 College of Acupuncture, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
    2 Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
  • Received:2015-07-30 Online:2016-02-15 Published:2016-02-15
  • Contact: Chuan-hai Cao, M.D.,ccao@health.usf.edu.
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81273672, 81373720; the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China, No. 2014J01353; and a grant from Fujian Province Health Planning Commission Project (2014) for Training Young Talents, No. 2014-ZQN-JC-28.

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Abstract:

Acupuncture at the SJ5 (Waiguan) acupoint has neuroprotective effects in cerebral infarction, but the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we analyzed gene expression in healthy rat cerebellum using a pathway-focused DNA microarray to screen 113 genes associated with 18 signal transduction pathways. After 20 minutes of acupuncture at SJ5, the expression of Bcl-2 and Birc1b mRNA was markedly increased. This was confirmed by real-time reverse transcription PCR. Furthermore, western blot analysis showed that Bcl-2 protein expression remained high in the cerebellum until at least 2 hours after cessation of acupuncture. These findings indicate that acupuncture at SJ5 exerts neuroprotective effects by regulating the expression of anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2.

Key words: nerve regeneration, neuroprotection, acupuncture, SJ5, cerebellum, apoptosis, signal transduction, Bcl-2, neural regeneration