Project description:After the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as a global pandemic, global health workers have been facing an unprecedented and severe challenge. Currently, a mixturetion to inhibit the exacerbation of pulmonary inflammation caused by COVID-19, Fuzheng Yugan Mixture (FZYGM), has been approved for medical institution mixturetion notification. However, the mechanism of FZYGM remains poorly defined. This study aimed to elucidate the molecular and related physiological pathways of FZYGM as a potential therapeutic agent for COVID-19. Active molecules of FZYGM were obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), while potential target genes of COVID-19 were identified by DrugBank and GeneCards. Compound-target networks and protein-protein interactions (PPI) were established by Cytoscape_v3.8.2 and String databases, respectively. The gene ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were performed. Finally, a more in-depth study was performed using molecular docking. Our study identified 7 active compounds and 3 corresponding core targets. The main potentially acting signaling pathways include the interleukin (IL)-17 signaling pathway, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, and coronavirus disease-COVID-19. This study shows that FZYGM can exhibit anti-COVID-19 effects through multiple targets and pathways. Therefore, FZYGM can be considered a drug candidate for the treatment of COVID-19, and it provides good theoretical support for subsequent experiments and clinical applications of COVID-19.
Project description:ObjectiveTo explore the effective components and mechanism of Polygonati Rhizoma (PR) in the treatment of osteoporosis (OP) based on network pharmacology and molecular docking methods.MethodsThe effective components and predicted targets of PR were obtained through the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) database. The disease database was used to screen the disease targets of OP. The obtained key targets were uploaded to the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) database for protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. The Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) was used for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses of key targets. Analysis and docking verification of chemical effective drug components and key targets were performed with IGEMDOCK software.ResultsA total of 12 chemically active components, 84 drug target proteins and 84 common targets related to drugs and OP were obtained. Key targets such as JUN, TP53, AKT1, ESR1, MAPK14, AR and CASP3 were identified through PPI network analysis. The results of enrichment analysis showed that the potential core drug components regulate the HIF-1 signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, estrogen signaling pathway and other pathways by intervening in biological processes such as cell proliferation and apoptosis and estrogen response regulation, with an anti-OP pharmacological role. The results of molecular docking showed that the key targets in the regulatory network have high binding activity to related active components.ConclusionsPR may regulate OP by regulating core target genes, such as JUN, TP53, AKT1, ESR1, AR and CASP3, and acting on multiple key pathways, such as the HIF-1 signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and estrogen signaling pathway.
Project description:Introduction: Fuzhuan brick tea (FBT) is a worldwide popular beverage which has the appreciable potential in regulating glycometabolism. However, the reports on the hypoglycemic mechanism of FBT remain limited. Methods: In this study, the hypoglycemic effect of FBT was evaluated in a pharmacological experiment based on Kunming mice. Global metabolomics and network pharmacology were combined to discover the potential target metabolites and genes. In addition, the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis was performed for verification. Results: Seven potential target metabolites and six potential target genes were screened using the integrated approach. After RT-qPCR analysis, it was found that the mRNA expression of VEGFA, KDR, MAPK14, and PPARA showed significant differences between normal and diabetes mellitus mice, with a retracement after FBT treatment. Conclusion: These results indicated that the hypoglycemic effect of FBT was associated with its anti-inflammatory activities and regulation of lipid metabolism disorders. The exploration of the hypoglycemic mechanism of FBT would be meaningful for its further application and development.
Project description:BackgroundKetamine is famous for its dissociative anesthetic properties. It is also analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-depressant, and even has a cerebral protective effect. We searched the evidence of the correlation between ketamine target and clinical efficacy and utilized network pharmacology to gather information about the multi-target mechanism of ketamine against cerebral ischemia (CI). We found that ketamine's clinical significance may be more extensive than previously thought.MethodsThe drug target of ketamine and CI-related genes were predicted by SwissTargetPrediction, DrugBank, PubChem, GeneCards and DisGeNET databases. The intersection of ketamine's drug-targets and CI-related genes was analyzed by using GO and KEGG. We predicted the molecular docking between the potential target and ketamine.ResultsThe results indicated that the effect of ketamine on CI was primarily associated with the target of α-synuclein (SNCA), muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1 (CHRM1) and nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOS1). It principally regulates the signal pathways of circadian transmission, calcium signaling pathway, dopaminergic synapse, cholinergic synapse and glutamatergic synapse. Molecular docking analysis exhibited that hydrogen bond and Pi-Pi interaction were the predominant modes of interaction.ConclusionThere are protein targets affected by ketamine in the treatment of CI. Three pivotal targets involving 298 proteins, SNCA, CHRM1 and NOS1, have emerged as multi-target mechanisms for ketamine in CI therapy. Similarly, this study also provides a new idea for introducing network pharmacology into the evaluation of multi-targeted drugs for CI and cerebral protection.
Project description:Purpose: Myocardial infarction (MI), a severe cardiovascular disease, is the result of insufficient blood supply to the myocardium. Despite the improvements of conventional therapies, new approaches are needed to improve the outcome post-MI. Imperatorin is a natural compound with multiple pharmacological properties and potential cardioprotective effects. Therefore, this work investigated imperatorin's therapeutic effects and its mechanism of action in an MI mouse model. Methods: Network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation were performed for exploring the pharmacokinetic properties, therapeutic effects, and molecular targets of imperatorin in MI. Permanent ligation of the left anterior descending artery was performed in male C57BL/6 mice to induce MI before treatment with imperatorin once per day for 1 week. Echocardiography, heart histology, RNA sequencing, and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) as well as western blotting were carried out for evaluating cardiac function and structure, as well as gene and protein expression. Results: Imperatorin significantly improved cardiac function, preserved cardiac structure, attenuated cardiac remodeling and fibrosis, and reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis in MI mice. Eight differentially expressed genes overlapping with key target genes were found, two upregulated and six downregulated. A key target in signaling pathways associated with imperatorin effect in MI was angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Imperatorin inhibited ACE-angiotensin II (Ang II)-angiotensin II Type 1 receptor (AT1R) axis in MI mice. Conclusion: Imperatorin attenuated MI by inhibiting the ACE-Ang II-AT1R axis. Thus, imperatorin might be considered a potential therapeutic agent to cure MI.
Project description:BackgroundAsthma has brought great economic burdens to community. Artesunate has shown certain effects on asthma experimentally, but relevant mechanisms are not clear. This study aims to systemically evaluate the efficacy and safety of artesunate and its metabolite, dihydroartemisinin (DHA), in asthma, based on network pharmacology and molecular docking.MethodsAll the information before March 1st, 2022 was collected. We evaluated the physicochemistry and Adsorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicity (ADMET) properties of artesunate and DHA by SwissADME and ADMETlab, identified targets of artesunate and DHA from SwissTargetPrediction and PharmMapper, and acquired genes participating in asthma from GeneCards and DisGeNET. Overlapping targets and hub genes were identified with Maximal Clique Centrality (MCC) algorithm in Cytoscape, cytoHubba. Enrichment analyses were performed to analyze the potential mechanisms and target sites. Molecular docking was utilized to investigate the receptor-ligand interactions on Autodock Vina and visualized in PyMOL.ResultsArtesunate and DHA showed acceptable druglikeness and safety for clinical application. A total of 282 targets of compounds and 7,997 targets of asthma were identified. 172 overlapping targets were visualized in a compound-target and protein-protein interaction network. Biofunction analysis showed the clustering associations with biosynthesis and metabolism of and response to steroid hormone, immune and inflammatory response, airway hyperresponsiveness, airway remodeling and cell survival and death regulation. CCND1, CASP3, MTOR, ERBB2, MAPK3, EGFR, MAP2K1, PTGS2, JAK2, and CASP8 were identified as the hub targets. Molecular docking indicated 10 stable receptor-ligand interactions, except for CASP3.ConclusionsArtesunate has the potential to be a potent and safe anti-asthmatic agent based on diverse therapeutic mechanisms and acceptable safety.
Project description:Purpose: Fermented camel milk from Xinjiang is rich in probiotics and has immunomodulatory effects as an important source of bioactive peptides. However, it is not clear whether it is the probiotic or the bioactive peptide that acts. The present study aimed to extract and identify bioactive peptides from fermented camel milk in Xinjiang and investigate their immunomodulatory effects and mechanisms based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods: Four probiotic bacteria were used to ferment the fresh camel milk and the bioactive peptides were extracted and isolated by ultrafiltration and column chromatography. Network pharmacology predicts targets and pathways of action. GeneCards and OMIM-GENE-MAP database were used in order to search disease target genes and screen common target genes. Then we used STRING web to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) interaction network of the common target protein. The key targets were analyzed by GO (Gene Ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) analysis through the David database. The "drug (bioactive peptide)-disease-targets-pathway" network was established and molecular docking was used for prediction. Results: Two fractions were obtained by UV spectrophotometer; whey acidic protein, α-lactalbumin, and peptidoglycan recognition protein 1 were the main protein-like components of Xinjiang fermented camel milk-derived bioactive peptides. The repeat sequence of peptidoglycan recognition protein 1 was selected and then seven bioactive peptides were obtained. Bioactive peptides had 222 gene targets, anti-inflammatory diseases had 2598 gene targets, and immune regulation had 866 gene targets, the intersection of which was 66 in common gene targets. Gene ontology and KEGG analysis reveals that bioactive peptides mainly play a vital role in the signaling pathways of lipid and atherosclerosis, pathways in cancer. The molecular docking results showed that the seven bioactive peptides bound well to the top four scoring proteins. Conclusion: The immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of Xinjiang fermented camel milk-derived bioactive peptides were initially investigated by network pharmacology and molecular docking, providing a scientific basis for future studies.
Project description:Fucosterol, a sterol isolated from brown algae, has been demonstrated to have anti-cancer properties. However, the effects and underlying molecular mechanism of fucosterol on non-small cell lung cancer remain to be elucidated. In this study, the corresponding targets of fucosterol were obtained from PharmMapper, and NSCLC related targets were gathered from the GeneCards database, and the candidate targets of fucosterol-treated NSCLC were predicted. The mechanism of fucosterol against NSCLC was identified in DAVID6.8 by enrichment analysis of GO and KEGG, and protein-protein interaction data were collected from STRING database. The hub gene GRB2 was further screened out and verified by molecular docking. Moreover, the relationship of GRB2 expression and immune infiltrates were analyzed by the TIMER database. The results of network pharmacology suggest that fucosterol acts against candidate targets, such as MAPK1, EGFR, GRB2, IGF2, MAPK8, and SRC, which regulate biological processes including negative regulation of the apoptotic process, peptidyl-tyrosine phosphorylation, positive regulation of cell proliferation. The Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway initiated by GRB2 showed to be significant in treating NSCLC. In conclusion, our study indicates that fucosterol may suppress NSCLC progression by targeting GRB2 activated the Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway, which laying a theoretical foundation for further research and providing scientific support for the development of new drugs.
Project description:ObjectiveOsteosarcoma is a primary malignancy originating from mesenchymal tissue characterized by rapid growth, early metastasis and poor prognosis. Ginsenoside Rg5 (G-Rg5) is a minor ginsenoside extracted from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer which has been discovered to possess anti-tumor properties. The objective of current study was to explore the mechanism of G-Rg5 in the treatment of osteosarcoma by network pharmacology and molecular docking technology.MethodsPharmmapper, SwissTargetPrediction and similarity ensemble approach databases were used to obtain the pharmacological targets of G-Rg5. Related genes of osteosarcoma were searched for in the GeneCards, OMIM and DrugBank databases. The targets of G-Rg5 and the related genes of osteosarcoma were intersected to obtain the potential target genes of G-Rg5 in the treatment of osteosarccoma. The STRING database and Cytoscape 3.8.2 software were used to construct the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) platform was used to perform gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. AutoDock vina software was used to perform molecular docking between G-Rg5 and hub targets. The hub genes were imported into the Kaplan-Meier Plotter online database for survival analysis.ResultsA total of 61 overlapping targets were obtained. The related signaling pathways mainly included PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, Proteoglycans in cancer, Lipid and atherosclerosis and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection. Six hub targets including PIK3CA, SRC, TP53, MAPK1, EGFR, and VEGFA were obtained through PPI network and targets-pathways network analyses. The results of molecular docking showed that the binding energies were all less than -7 kcal/mol. And the results of survival analysis showed TP53 and VEGFA affect the prognosis of sarcoma patients.ConclusionThis study explored the possible mechanism of G-Rg5 in the treatment of osteosarcoma using network pharmacology method, suggesting that G-Rg5 has the characteristics of multi-targets and multi-pathways in the treatment of osteosarcoma, which lays a foundation for the follow-up experimental and clinical researches on the therapeutic effects of G-Rg5 on osteosarcoma.