Acupuncture Modulates Protein Expression in the Striatum of Parkinson’s Disease Mouse Model

Objectives : Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the loss of dopamine neurons in the brain. Previous studies have shown that acupuncture can delay the progression of the disease in the early stages of PD. Based on the findings from these studies, we investigated the underlying mechanisms by examining alterations in protein expression within the striatum, which is the site of lesions associated with PD. Methods : PD animal models were fabricated using neurotoxic compounds such as 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), and the animal models were divided into the control group (CTL), the MPTP group that received only MPTP treatment, the MPTP-A group that received MPTP and acupuncture treatment at LR3 and GB34, and the MPTP-NA group that received MPTP and acupuncture treatment on both sides of the hip joint. Results : Behavioral data obtained from the rotarod test showed that motor function, which was significantly impaired due to the induction of PD (p 0.005), demonstrated a statistically significant improvement following acupuncture treatment (p0.05). To investigate the mechanism involved in these neuroprotective effects, we studied the protein expression changes in the striatum of PD mouse model. MPTP_A group showed significant changes in protein expression of Axin-1 (Axin1), Integrin beta-6 (Itgb6), Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr), and Legumain (Lgmn). In addition, KEGG pathway analysis showed that these proteins are involved in dopaminergic synapses, cytoskeleton in muscle cells, mTOR signaling pathway, and etc. Conclusions : These results suggest that acupuncture treatment is expected to be effective in treating PD by altering the protein expression levels of Axin1, Itgb6, Ahr, and Lgmn.