Fig. 4: EA relieved the impairment of 5-HT expression/function in the mPFC in the PSD.

A A volcano plot was constructed to visualize the differential regulation of gene expression between the Control and PSD groups, as determined by RNA-Seq analysis. These upregulated and downregulated genes were demonstrated in red and green. B Gene Ontology (GO) functional analysis shows enriched items in the ranked PSD-related DEGs. BP, biological process; CC, cellular component; MF, molecular function. C The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis pathway enrichment analysis was performed to evaluate the targets linked to PSD ChIP-seq peaks. D, E 5-HT content in blood serum (D) and the mPFC (E) was determined by ELISA kit. EA significantly increased the expression level of 5-HT in the PSD mice. (one-way ANOVA test, N = 6 per group). F Left: Representative images of immunofluorescent staining of 5-HT (green) in the mPFC from Control, PSD, PSD+sham-EA, and PSD+EA groups. Right: The intensity of 5-HT was significantly reduced by PSD induction, and this impairment could be recovered by EA treatment. (one-way ANOVA test, N = 11 slices per group). Scale bar, 50 μm. G Illustration showing TST and in vivo fiber photometry recording. H Line plots showing changes in 5-HT signal activation between the four groups during the struggle of mice in TST. I The statistical analysis of the mean area under the curve (AUC) of 5-HT activity during the struggle phase of mice in TST. (Mann-Whitney test, N = 4 per group). J The statistical analysis of peak ΔF/F in TST. (Mann-Whitney test, N = 4 per group). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. P values are set to *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.