Effects of acupuncture on cysteine-containing aspartate-specific proteases 3 and c-Jun in the hippocampus of depression rats induced by force swimming stress
10.3969/j.issn.1006-2157.2016.03.013
- VernacularTitle:针刺对强迫游泳应激抑郁模型大鼠海马半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶-3、c-Jun 表达的影响
- Author:
Yu GUO
1
;
Wuye BAO
;
Ya TU
;
Jihong WU
;
Yu WANG
;
Xuhui ZHANG
;
Mingmin XU
;
Miao YU
;
Chuntao ZHANG
;
Bingcong ZHAO
Author Information
1. 北京中医药大学针灸推拿学院 北京 100029
- Keywords:
acupuncture;
forced swimming stress;
hippocampus;
depression;
cysteine-containing aspar-tate-specific protease 3;
c-Jun;
JNK inhibitor SP600125;
rats
- From:
Journal of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
2016;39(3):241-246
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To observe the interventional effect of acupuncture on apoptosis of hippocampal neuron of depression model rats,and the effect on the c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK)pathway,so as to reveal the mechanism of anti-depression of acupuncture.Methods Altogether 36 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups (each n =6):control group,control + inhibitor (SP600125,a JNK inhibitor )group,model group,model +inhibitor group,acupuncture group and acupuncture +inhibitor group.Except the control group and control +inhibitor group,the rats in the other four groups were forced to swim and be bred solitarily to establish the rat depression model.Baihui (GV20)and Yin-tang (GV29),the acupoints selected in rats of acupuncture group and acupuncture +inhibitor group, were needled for 20 minutes,once daily for two days.Using Western blot to detect the protein expression of c-Jun,the substrate of JNK pathway,in hippocampus of all groups of rats,and using RT-PCR to ex-amine the gene expression of apoptosis-related caspase-3 in hippocampus of rats.Results Compared with the control group,caspase-3 gene expression and c-Jun protein expression showed no significant difference in control +inhibitor group(P >0.05),but both were higher in those of model group(P <0.01).Compared with model group,the expression levels of caspase-3 were lower significantly in model+inhibitor group,acupuncture group and acupuncture + inhibitor group(P <0.01 ),and the protein expression levels of c-Jun were lower significantly in model +inhibitor group,acupuncture group and acu-puncture +inhibitor group(P <0.05,P <0.05,P <0.01 ).Conclusion Apoptosis of hippocampal neurons may be inhibited via the interventional effect of acupuncture on JNK pathway activities which down-regulate c-Jun protein expression and apoptosis-related caspase-3 gene expression.It may be one of the potential molecular mechanisms of antidepressant effect of acupuncture.
