Abstract
Despite accumulating evidence of the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture, its mechanism
remains largely unclear. We assume that molecular signaling around the acupuncture
needled area is essential for initiating the effect of acupuncture. To determine possible
bio-candidates involved in the mechanisms of acupuncture and investigate the role
of such bio-candidates in the analgesic effects of acupuncture, we conducted 2 stepwise
experiments. First, a genome-wide microarray of the isolated skin layer at the GB34-equivalent
acupoint of C57BL/6 mice 1 hour after acupuncture found that a total of 236 genes
had changed and that extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK) activation was the
most prominent bio-candidate. Second, in mouse pain models using formalin and complete
Freund adjuvant, we found that acupuncture attenuated the nociceptive behavior and
the mechanical allodynia; these effects were blocked when ERK cascade was interrupted
by the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/mitogen-activated protein kinase
(MAPK) inhibitor U0126 (.8 μg/μL). Based on these results, we suggest that ERK phosphorylation
following acupuncture needling is a biochemical hallmark initiating the effect of
acupuncture including analgesia.
Perspective
This article presents the novel evidence of the local molecular signaling in acupuncture
analgesia by demonstrating that ERK activation in the skin layer contributes to the
analgesic effect of acupuncture in a mouse pain model. This work improves our understanding
of the scientific basis underlying acupuncture analgesia.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 12, 2014
Accepted:
January 29,
2014
Received in revised form:
January 23,
2014
Received:
December 11,
2013
Footnotes
J.-Y.P., J.J.P. and S.J. contributed equally to this work.
This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. 2005-0049404), and a grant of the Korean Health Technology R&D Project, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (No. HI13C0540). J.J.P. was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K12DE022793.
The authors declare that there are no financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Supplementary data accompanying this article are available online at www.jpain.org and www.sciencedirect.com.
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© 2014 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
