P2RX7 in Dopaminergic Neurons of Ventral Periaqueductal Gray Mediates HTWP Acupuncture-Induced Consciousness in Traumatic Brain Injury

Overview

Journal Front Cell Neurosci

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2021 Feb 1

PMID 33519382

Citations 6

Authors

Huiling Tang

Siru Qin

Wei Li

Xuyi Chen

Luis Ulloa

Qiumei Zhu

Baohu Liu

Yinan Gong

Yadan Zhao

Songtao Wang

Shanshan Li

Yongming Guo

Zhifang Xu

Yi Guo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The induction of a coma by traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a crucial factor for poor clinical prognoses. We report that acupuncture at the hand 12 -Well points (HTWP) improved consciousness and neurologic function in TBI rats. Gene chip analyses showed that HTWP acupuncture mostly activated genes modulating neuronal projections (, and ), protein secretion (, and ), and dopamine (DA) receptor D3 () in the ventral periaqueductal gray (vPAG), among which the expression rate of was the most obviously increased. Acupuncture also increased the expression and excitability of DA and P2RX7 neurons, and the DA neurons expressed P2RX7, P2RX3, and TRPV1 in the vPAG. Intracerebroventricular administration of P2RX7, P2RX3, or TRPV1 antagonists blocked acupuncture-induced consciousness, and the subsequent injection of a P2RX7 antagonist into the vPAG nucleus also inhibited this effect. Our findings provide evidence that acupuncture alleviates TBI-induced comas via DA neurons expressing P2RX7 in the vPAG, so as to reveal the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the improvement of TBI clinical outcomes by HTWP acupuncture.

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