Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42678571›Full record

ArticleJournal of molecular neuroscience : MN2026

RNA-seq Analysis Reveals Neuroimmune Remodeling and NTSR1-Related Neuroactive Signatures After Combined rTMS and Press-Tack Needle Stimulation in TBI Rats.

Zhong Li, Jing Fu, Ying Qian, Jianlin Pu, Zhen Han, Yu Yin, Yadong Liu, Hongpeng Liu, Xuesong Gai, Li Li

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Article in Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Zhong Li *Second Clinical Medical College, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, 650500, China.
Jing Fu *Second Clinical Medical College, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, 650500, China.
Ying QianSchool of Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China.
Jianlin PuSchool of Traditional Dai Medicine, West Yunnan University of Applied Sciences, Xishuangbanna, China.
Zhen HanSecond Clinical Medical College, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, 650500, China.
Yu YinSecond Clinical Medical College, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, 650500, China.
Yadong LiuSecond Clinical Medical College, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, 650500, China.
Hongpeng LiuSecond Clinical Medical College, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, 650500, China.
Xuesong GaiDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, The Affiliated Hospital of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650032, China. 15825255288@139.com.
Li LiDepartment of Emergency Trauma Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, The Affiliated Hospital of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650032, China. khyy_ll@163.com.

Funding

Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China 82160442the Major Science and Technology Project in Biomedicine of Yunnan Province 202302AA310022the Xingdian Talent Support Program of Yunnan Province XDYC-YLWS-2023-0065
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with complex transcriptional disturbances involving cortical suppression, neuroimmune responses, and altered neuroactive signaling. Although repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and acupuncture-related stimulation have been investigated as neuromodulatory strategies after brain injury, the transcriptomic features associated with combined rTMS and press-tack needle (PTN) stimulation remain incompletely understood. In this study, RNA sequencing was performed on prefrontal cortex tissue from Sham rats, TBI rats, and TBI rats treated with combined rTMS + PTN. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs), functional enrichment, pathway-gene interaction networks, protein-protein interaction networks, and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were used to explore transcriptional alterations associated with TBI and combined intervention. TBI induced marked transcriptional changes in the prefrontal cortex, including genes enriched in neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, calcium signaling, and injury-related pathways. Combined rTMS + PTN stimulation was associated with additional transcriptional remodeling, particularly involving immune-inflammatory pathways such as NF-κB signaling, IL-17 signaling, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and Toll-like receptor signaling. Intersection analysis identified 55 shared TBI-associated and intervention-responsive genes as a candidate signature. Further PPI and GSEA analyses suggested that Nts/Ntsr1, Egr1, Drd1, and related neuroactive signaling molecules may participate in the transcriptional response to combined stimulation after TBI. These findings provide an exploratory RNA-seq-based framework for understanding NTSR1-associated neuroimmune and neuroactive molecular signatures after TBI. Targeted qRT-PCR assessment of selected neuroactive candidate genes, including Ntsrl, Egrl, and Drd1, provided complementary evidence of group-dependent expression differences in an independent animal cohort. Further protein-level and functional validation will be required to determine the causal relationships among these candidate molecules.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyBrain Injuries, TraumaticReceptors, Corticotropin-Releasing HormoneTranscranial Magnetic StimulationTranscriptomeAnimalsCRF Receptor, Type 1MaleNeuroimmunomodulationPrefrontal CortexRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyCRF Receptor, Type 1Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing HormoneNTSR1Press-Tack NeedleRNA SequencingrTMSTranscriptomicsTraumatic Brain Injury

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.