Study on herb property expression of pungent-aromatic Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Caryophylli Flos, and Foeniculi Fructus based on network pharmacology of olfactory receptors / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: In this study, network pharmacology techniques and methods were used to screen the material basis, targets and pathways of the interaction between the pungent-aromatic herbs (Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Caryophylli Flos, and Foeniculi Fructus) and olfactory receptor. To explain the molecular mechanism of the expression of pungent properties of the pungent-aromatic herb. Methods: TCMSP database was used to collect the chemical components of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Caryophylli Flos, and Foeniculi Fructus, in order to screen out the effective components and predict the related targets. All the proteins related to olfactory receptors were collected from UniProt database. The selected targets and ORs proteins were uploaded to the online STRING database for protein interaction analysis. The interaction network was drawn by using the software of Cytoscape software, and the key targets was further analyzed by GO functional enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Results: Five active components of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, five of Caryophylli Flos and two of Foeniculi Fructus, 224 targets and 515 olfactory receptors were obtained. Protein interaction network showed 25 targets (such as GNB2, CHRM2, CHRM3, GNGT2, ADRA2A) were the key targets for ORs of three pungent-aromatic herbs. The enrichment analysis of GO and KEGG identified 31 biological processes and 78 signaling pathways. Conclusion: Olfactory receptors are mainly activated by volatile oil components of the pungent-aromatic herb. And the classical cAMP signaling pathway may not be the only one after the olfactory receptor activated, which may be involved in the expression of pungent properties of the pungent-aromatic herb together with several other signaling pathways, so as to produce "pungent flavor".