Tyrosine Kinase Receptors Axl and MerTK Mediate the Beneficial Effect of Electroacupuncture in a Cuprizone-Induced Demyelinating Model.

Tyrosine Kinase Receptors Axl and MerTK Mediate the Beneficial Effect of Electroacupuncture in a Cuprizone-Induced Demyelinating Model. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020;2020:3205176 Authors: Zou Z, Sun J, Kang Z, Wang Y, Zhao H, Zhu K, Wang J Abstract Electroacupuncture has been shown to promote remyelination in a demyelinating model of multiple sclerosis (MS) through enhanced microglial clearance of degraded myelin debris. However, the mechanisms involved in this process are yet to be clearly elucidated. It has been revealed that TAM receptor tyrosine kinases (Tyro3, Axl, and MerTK) play pivotal roles in regulating multiple features of microglia, including the phagocytic function and myelin clearance. Therefore, the aim of this study is to further confirm whether electroacupuncture improves functional recovery in this model and to characterise the involvement of the TAM receptor during this process. In addition to naive control mice, a cuprizone-induced demyelinating model was established, and long-term electroacupuncture treatment was administrated. To evaluate the efficiency of functional recovery following demyelination, we performed beam-walking test and rotarod performance test; to objectify the degree of remyelination, we performed transmission electron microscopy and protein quantification of mature oligodendrocyte markers. Oil Red O staining was used to evaluate the deposit of myelin debris. We confirmed that, in cup...
Source: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Tags: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Source Type: research