Gene expression data from thalamic regions of MPTP-intoxicated mouse brain by acupuncture. Mus musculus

Acupuncture stimulations at GB34 and LR3 inhibit the reduction of tyrosine hydroxylase in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in the parkinsonism animal models. Especially, behavioral tests showed that acupuncture stimulations improved the motor dysfunction in a previous study. The thalamus is a crucial area for the motor circuit and has been identified as one of the most markedly damaged areas in Parkinson’s disease (PD), so acupuncture stimulations might also have an effect on the thalamic damage. We investigated gene expression profile changes in the thalamic region of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced parkinsonism models after acupuncture at the acupoints GB34 and LR3 Overall design: C57BL/6 mice were divided into four experimental groups; ① C: Control, ② M: MPTP-treatment only, ③ MA: MPTP- and acupuncture-treatment at acupoints GB34 and LR3, ④ MNA: MPTP- and acupuncture-treatment at non-acupoints. Total RNA was isolated from two brains' thalamic regions of each experimental group (4 experimental group × 2 samples of each experimental group = total 8 samples).