Single-cell RNA-sequencing landscape in acupuncture treatment for asthma. Mus musculus musculus

While the efficacy of acupuncture in treating asthma is well-established, the precise mechanism by which this traditional Chinese medicine-based therapy modulates this heterogeneous disease has remained elusive. Given the complex pathophysiology of asthma, understanding how acupuncture consistently influences distinct signaling pathways and specific cell types could pave the way for innovative approaches to asthma treatment. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis was performed to investigate the potential therapeutic mechanism of acupuncture in a mouse model of HDM-induced allergic asthma. Lung cells were collected from four groups of mice, including a control group, an HDM-induced group, and two groups induced by HDM followed by acupuncture therapy at acupoints ST36 and BL13, respectively. The strategy of single-cell profiling and impartial subtype categorization, combined with subsequent profiling and the analysis of functional pathways in prospectively isolated subsets, enabled us to pinpoint potential therapeutic targets for asthma and elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of immune cells and epithelial cells.