Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia
Background: Acupuncture has been proven effective for various types of pain, and peripheral molecular signals around acupuncture-treated areas have been suggested to contribute to the analgesic effects of acupuncture. However, the underlying mechanism from these peripheral molecular signals to centr...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2024-09-01
|
| Series: | Integrative Medicine Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422024000313 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849768569443713024 |
|---|---|
| author | Ji-Yeun Park Jae-Hwan Jang Yang-Hwa Kang Songhee Jeon Seung-Nam Kim Yeon-Hee Ryu Hi-Joon Park |
| author_facet | Ji-Yeun Park Jae-Hwan Jang Yang-Hwa Kang Songhee Jeon Seung-Nam Kim Yeon-Hee Ryu Hi-Joon Park |
| author_sort | Ji-Yeun Park |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Acupuncture has been proven effective for various types of pain, and peripheral molecular signals around acupuncture-treated areas have been suggested to contribute to the analgesic effects of acupuncture. However, the underlying mechanism from these peripheral molecular signals to central ones remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) activation induced by acupuncture treatment mediates acupuncture analgesia, and also to investigate the relationship between ROCK activation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which has previously been proven to mediate acupuncture analgesia and other related molecular changes during acupuncture. Methods: Acupuncture was treated at the bilateral GB34 acupoints of C57BL/6 mice, after which changes in ROCK activation and the location of its expression in the skin were analyzed. To verify the role of ROCK in acupuncture analgesia, we administrated ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 (0.3 μg/ul) into the skin before acupuncture treatment with formalin and complete Freund adjuvant (CFA) induced pain models, then the nociceptive responses were analyzed. Results: Acupuncture treatment produced ROCK2 activation in the skin after 30 and 60 min, and the histological analyses revealed that ROCK2 was activated in the fibroblast of the dermis. The acupuncture-induced ROCK2 expression was significantly attenuated by the ERK inhibitor, whereas phospho-ERK expression was not inhibited by ROCK inhibitor. In both the formalin- and CFA-induced mouse pain models, acupuncture analgesia was blocked by ROCK inhibitor administration. Conclusion: Acupuncture treatment-induced ROCK2 expression is a downstream effector of phospho-ERK in the skin and plays a crucial role in acupuncture analgesia. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1a7866dcb2d049f4abf2c526d3338d35 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2213-4220 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Integrative Medicine Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-1a7866dcb2d049f4abf2c526d3338d352025-08-20T03:03:45ZengElsevierIntegrative Medicine Research2213-42202024-09-0113310105110.1016/j.imr.2024.101051Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesiaJi-Yeun Park0Jae-Hwan Jang1Yang-Hwa Kang2Songhee Jeon3Seung-Nam Kim4Yeon-Hee Ryu5Hi-Joon Park6College of Korean Medicine, Daejeon University, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaJaseng Spine and Joint Research Institute, Jaseng Medical Foundation, Seoul, Republic of KoreaStudies of Translational Acupuncture Research, Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Center for Creative Biomedical Scientists at Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of KoreaCollege of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, Goyang, Republic of KoreaKM Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of KoreaStudies of Translational Acupuncture Research, Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Corresponding author at: Studies of Translational Acupuncture Research, Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemoon-gu, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea.Background: Acupuncture has been proven effective for various types of pain, and peripheral molecular signals around acupuncture-treated areas have been suggested to contribute to the analgesic effects of acupuncture. However, the underlying mechanism from these peripheral molecular signals to central ones remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) activation induced by acupuncture treatment mediates acupuncture analgesia, and also to investigate the relationship between ROCK activation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which has previously been proven to mediate acupuncture analgesia and other related molecular changes during acupuncture. Methods: Acupuncture was treated at the bilateral GB34 acupoints of C57BL/6 mice, after which changes in ROCK activation and the location of its expression in the skin were analyzed. To verify the role of ROCK in acupuncture analgesia, we administrated ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 (0.3 μg/ul) into the skin before acupuncture treatment with formalin and complete Freund adjuvant (CFA) induced pain models, then the nociceptive responses were analyzed. Results: Acupuncture treatment produced ROCK2 activation in the skin after 30 and 60 min, and the histological analyses revealed that ROCK2 was activated in the fibroblast of the dermis. The acupuncture-induced ROCK2 expression was significantly attenuated by the ERK inhibitor, whereas phospho-ERK expression was not inhibited by ROCK inhibitor. In both the formalin- and CFA-induced mouse pain models, acupuncture analgesia was blocked by ROCK inhibitor administration. Conclusion: Acupuncture treatment-induced ROCK2 expression is a downstream effector of phospho-ERK in the skin and plays a crucial role in acupuncture analgesia.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422024000313AcupunctureAnalgesiaRho associated protein kinasePeripheralMolecular mechanism |
| spellingShingle | Ji-Yeun Park Jae-Hwan Jang Yang-Hwa Kang Songhee Jeon Seung-Nam Kim Yeon-Hee Ryu Hi-Joon Park Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia Integrative Medicine Research Acupuncture Analgesia Rho associated protein kinase Peripheral Molecular mechanism |
| title | Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia |
| title_full | Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia |
| title_fullStr | Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia |
| title_short | Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia |
| title_sort | peripheral rho associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia |
| topic | Acupuncture Analgesia Rho associated protein kinase Peripheral Molecular mechanism |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422024000313 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jiyeunpark peripheralrhoassociatedproteinkinaseactivationmediatesacupunctureanalgesia AT jaehwanjang peripheralrhoassociatedproteinkinaseactivationmediatesacupunctureanalgesia AT yanghwakang peripheralrhoassociatedproteinkinaseactivationmediatesacupunctureanalgesia AT songheejeon peripheralrhoassociatedproteinkinaseactivationmediatesacupunctureanalgesia AT seungnamkim peripheralrhoassociatedproteinkinaseactivationmediatesacupunctureanalgesia AT yeonheeryu peripheralrhoassociatedproteinkinaseactivationmediatesacupunctureanalgesia AT hijoonpark peripheralrhoassociatedproteinkinaseactivationmediatesacupunctureanalgesia |