Figure 7.

A possible inflammatory signaling pathway that results from the functional associations of the identified inflammation-related proteins (marked with an underline), which is regulated by acupuncture in asthma. Acupuncture can downregulate the proteins S100A8, S100A9, RAGE, and RhoGDI2 and upregulate the expression of CC10 and sRAGE. This pathway may explain the anti-inflammatory effect of acupuncture in asthma. Rho inact, inactivated Rho GTPase; Rho act, activated Rho GTPase; RhoGEF, Rho-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factors; GAP, GTPase-activating proteins; NF-κB, nuclear factor-κB; AP1, activator protein-1.