The mechanism of Belamcanda chinensis in the treatment of glioma based on network pharmacology and molecular simulation / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

【Objective】 To explore the potential molecular biological mechanism of Belamcanda chinensis in the treatment of glioma based on network pharmacology, molecular docking technology and in vitro cell experiments. 【Methods】 ① The active components, targets of Belamcanda chinensis and targets of glioma were obtained by database search. String database was used to analyze protein-protein interaction relationship, R project was used to analyze gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, Cytoscape software was used to build "compound-target-disease" network and PPI network, and AutoDock software was used to verify molecular docking. ② Western blotting, qRT-PCT and apoptosis assay were used to verify the enrichment results of network pharmacology targets and protein pathway. 【Results】 ① We screened out 32 types of active components, 484 types of targets and 464 types of glioma targets, and obtained 62 kinds of therapeutic targets after mapping. We obtained 12 kinds of key pharmacodynamic molecules such as Isoiridogermanal, Iridobelamal A and Rhamnazinand and other key pharmacodynamic molecules, as well as AKT1, STAT3, HRAS and other core targets by network topology analysis. Enrichment analysis results demonstrated that they were mainly involved in biological processes such as peptide serine phosphorylation, protein kinase B signal transduction, peptide serine modification, and pathways including PI3K/AKT signal pathway and Rap1 signal pathway. The results of molecular docking verified the good binding activity of the key pharmacodynamic molecules with the core targets. ② The results of Western blotting showed that the protein expressions of VEGF and MMP9 of Belamcanda chinensis extracts in 8 mg/mL and 16 mg/mL groups were significantly lower than those in the blank control group (P<0.01 or P<0.001). Compared with the blank control group, the early apoptosis rate of Belamcanda chinensis extracts at 8 mg/mL and 16 mg/mL were significantly decreased (P<0.001 or P<0.000 1). qRT-PCR results showed that the mRNA expression levels of VEGF and MMP9 in Belamcanda chinensis extracts at 8 mg/mL and 16 mg/mL were significantly decreased (P<0.001 or P<0.0001). 【Conclusion】 The treatment of glioma with Belamcanda chinensis is the result of multi-component, multi-target and multi-channel interactions. The results of cell experiments confirmed that Belamcanda chinensis extracts can affect the expressions of related target proteins of PI3K/AKT signal pathway and VEGF and MMP9, which verified the results of network pharmacology. The results provide a theoretical basis for the clinical application of Belamcanda chinensis and studies on glioma.

Research Progress on Pharmacological Effect and Mechanism of Polydatin / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Polydatin， a polyphenolic compound， is the main active component of Chinese medicine Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix and has a variety of pharmacological activities. In recent years， there are more studies on the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of polydatin. Modern pharmacological studies show that polydatin has protective effects on the nervous system， cardio-cerebral vascular system， and respiratory system， and also has significant effects on the liver， kidney， lung， and other organs. Its effect of regulating blood glucose and blood lipid on atherosclerosis is significant， and the anti-fibrosis effect is significant on the liver and kidney. Polydatin can inhibit many types of tumor cells， suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis of tumor cells. Polydatin can also resist inflammation and radiation， protect bone marrow， and promote wound healing. Based on the literature on the pharmacological effects of polydatin， the authors found that the single pharmacological mechanism of polydatin is often regulated by multi-target proteins and multiple pathways， but the most of action targets are unclear， which needs to be further investigated. This study summarized the research progress on the pharmacological action and mechanism of polydatin in the past five years and put forward some suggestions on its present research situation and future research direction to broaden the research ideas of researchers and speed up the identification of the targets of its pharmacological effect. This study is expected to provide a scientific theoretical basis for the further development and utilization of polydatin.

Prediction of anti-liver fibrosis effect of Piperis Longi Fructus based on network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

Network pharmacology and liver fibrosis(LF) model in vitro were used to analyze the underly mechanism of anti-liver fibrosis effect that induced by Piperis Longi Fructus and its major active compounds. TCMSP and TCMIP were used to search for the chemical constituents of Piperis Longi Fructus, as well as the oral bioavailability(OB), drug-likeness(DL), intercellular permeability of intestinal epithelial cells(Caco-2) and Drug-likeness grading were set as limiting conditions. The related target genes of Piperis Longi Fructus were queried by TCMSP database, while related targets of LF were screened by GeneCards databases. Interaction network was constructed using Cytoscape 3.7.1. These above data were imported into STRING database for PPI network analysis. Enrichment of gene ontology(GO) and pathway analysis(KEGG) within Bioconductor database were utilized to note functions of related targets of Piperis Longi Fructus. Finally, the core targets and pathways were preliminarily verified by in vitro experiments. The effects of piperlongumine(PL), the major active component of Piperis Longi Fructus, on proliferation of rat liver stellate cells(HSC-T6) and expression of α smooth muscle actin(α-SMA) and collagen Ⅰ were investigated. The major factors TNF-α of tumor necrosis factor(TNF) pathway and NF-κB p65, IL-6 protein expressions of LF process were examined. A total of 12 active compounds such as PL were obtained by analyzing the bioavailability and drug-like properties, which inferred to 48 targets. The functional enrichment analysis of GO obtained 1 240 GO items, mainly involving in process of biology and molecular function. A total of 99 signaling pathways were enriched in the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, including TNF signaling pathway, cGMP-PKG signaling pathway, calcium signaling pathways. CCK-8 assay showed that PL inhibited proliferation of HSC-T6 induced by transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1). Western blot analysis found that treated with PL suppressed the protein expressions of α-SMA, collagen Ⅰ, TNF-α and p65 in HSC-T6. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) showed that PL inhibited the expressions of TNF-α and IL-6 in the cluture supertant of HSC-T6 cells. In conclusion, PL could play an anti-liver fibrosis role by regulating TNF/NF-κB signaling pathway. This study provided the mechanism basis of anti-LF effects induced by Piperis Longi Fructus and its major active compounds, which might help for the further study of the mechanism and key targets of Piperis Longi Fructus.

Pharmacological targets and clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine and active components in the prevention and treatment for depression / 中国临床药理学与治疗学

The pathological mechanism for depression is complicated due to the involvement of types of transcriptional factors and signaling pathways in the occurrence and development of depression. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) characterized with multi-components and multi-targets exert unique advantage in the prevention and treatment of depression. This review summarized the pharmacological action of TCM and active components on transcriptional factors (CREB, NF-κB, Nrf2) and signaling pathways (BDNF-TrkB, MAPK, GSK-3β, TLR-4-NLRP3-IL-1β) as well as elucidated the clinical application of TCM formula in the prevention and treatment for depression based on relevant literatures from home and abroad.

Targets prediction and mechanism of Zanthoxylum nitidum in intervention of inflammation based on network pharmacology / 中草药

Objective: To construct the “active components-inflammatory target-anti-inflammatory pathway” network of Zanthoxylum nitidum intervened in inflammation, and predict the target of Z. nitidum intervened in inflammation and its anti-inflammatory mechanism. Methods: Using domestic and foreign literatures, TCMSP database, Pharmmapper server, oral availability (OB), and pharmacodynamics (DL) as the limiting conditions, the components of Z. nitidum were screened and the relative targets were predicted and collected. OMIM database was used to screen inflammation-related genes and protein targets; The STRING database was used to construct the interactive network between inflammatory targets; The network file of “active ingredient-predictive target-inflammatory target” was obtained by PPI analysis and imported into Cytoscape 3.5.1 software to construct the network of “active ingredient- inflammatory target”, so as to obtain the targets directly related to the anti-inflammatory effects of Z. nitidum. DAVID database was used to enrich the KEGG pathway of the selected targets, and then ClueGO plug-in was used to analyze the biological function of the target involved. Finally, the “active component-inflammatory target-anti-inflammatory pathway” network was constructed by combining the above relationships. Results: Twenty-three active ingredients were screened, and nine core anti-inflammatory targets were identified as COX-2, iNOS, PPARG, COX1, MAPK-14, JUN, NR3C1 and so on; The most critical pathways included TNF TRLs signaling pathways. Conclusion: It is preliminarily revealed that the anti-inflammatory effect of Z. nitidum is achieved through the interaction of multiple components and multiple targets, regulating the joint intervention of multiple pathways. However, the key targets and specific regulatory mechanisms need to be explored and verified by further experimental studies.