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Electro-acupuncture Suppresses AXL Expression in Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons and Enhances Analgesic Effect of AXL Inhibitor in Spinal Nerve Ligation Induced-Neuropathic Pain Rats

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Abstract

Electro-acupuncture (EA) has been used for clinic analgesia for many years. However, its mechanisms are not fully understood. We recently reported that AXL, a tyrosine kinase receptor, contributes to the peripheral mechanism of neuropathic pain. We here aim to figure out the significance of EA on neuropathic pain mediated by AXL in dorsal root ganglion (DRG). Spinal nerve ligation (SNL) was used as a neuropathic pain model. EA was applied at ‘‘Huantiao’’ (GB-30) and ‘‘Yanglingquan’’ (GB-34) acupoints for 30 min daily from day 7 to day 10 after SNL. EA not only gradually attenuated SNL-induced mechanical allodynia, but also suppressed the expression of phosphorylated AXL (p-AXL) and AXL in injured DRGs of SNL rats examined by western blotting and immunofluorescence. Moreover, intrathecal injection of the subthreshold dose of AXL inhibitor TP0903, significantly prolonged the analgesic time of single EA treatment and enhanced the analgesic effect of repeated EA treatments, suggesting a synergic effect of EA and AXL inhibitor. These results indicate that AXL signaling underlies EA analgesia and combination of AXL inhibitor and EA might be a new strategy for clinic analgesia on neuropathic pain.

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Availability of Data and Material Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, L. Liang. The data are not publicly available.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Key Projects of National Health and Family Planning Commission of Tianjin, China (16KG157), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81701112, 31871065), the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2019JM-128), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018M633527), the Shaanxi Province Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018BSHEDZZ147).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neuroscience, Translational Medicine Institute, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Siqi Wei, Shuyang Chang, Yue Dong, Linping Xu, Xiaocui Yuan, Hong Jia & Lingli Liang

  2. Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Siqi Wei, Shuyang Chang, Yue Dong, Linping Xu, Xiaocui Yuan, Hong Jia & Lingli Liang

  3. Department of Pain Medicine, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Nankai University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

    Jun Zhang

  4. Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Province for Craniofacial Precision Medicine Research, Research Center of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University College of Stomatology, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Siqi Wei

  5. Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases (Xi’an Jiaotong University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Lingli Liang

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  1. Siqi Wei
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Wei, S., Chang, S., Dong, Y. et al. Electro-acupuncture Suppresses AXL Expression in Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons and Enhances Analgesic Effect of AXL Inhibitor in Spinal Nerve Ligation Induced-Neuropathic Pain Rats. Neurochem Res 46, 504–512 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-020-03185-x

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