scholarly journals Combining Network Pharmacology with Molecular Docking for Mechanistic Research on Thyroid Dysfunction Caused by Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Their Metabolites

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Qiaoyu He ◽  
Xiaopeng Chen ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Chunxia Li ◽  
Hong Xing ◽  
...  

Network pharmacology was used to illuminate the targets and pathways of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) causing thyroid dysfunction. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. Molecular docking was applied to analyze PBDEs and key targets according to the network pharmacology results. A total of 247 targets were found to be related to 16 PBDEs. Ten key targets with direct action were identified, including the top five PIK3R1, MAPK1, SRC, RXRA, and TP53. Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis identified 75 biological items. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis identified 62 pathways mainly related to the regulation of the thyroid hormone signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling, pathways in cancer, proteoglycans in cancer, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation, and others. The molecular docking results showed that BDE-99, BDE-153, 5-OH-BDE47, 5 ′ -OH-BDE99, 5-BDE47 sulfate, and 5 ′ -BDE99 sulfate have a good binding effect with the kernel targets. PBDEs could interfere with the thyroid hormone endocrine through multiple targets and biological pathways, and metabolites demonstrated stronger effects than the prototypes. This research provides a basis for further research on the toxicological effects and molecular mechanisms of PBDEs and their metabolites. Furthermore, the application of network pharmacology to the study of the toxicity mechanisms of environmental pollutants provides a new methodology for environmental toxicology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Weie Zhou ◽  
Xuefeng Zhou ◽  
Yuan Zhang ◽  
Yuyang Wang ◽  
Wenjie Wu ◽  
...  

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the common and severe microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). The occurrence and development of DN are related to multiple factors in the human body, which makes DN a complex disease, and the pathogeneses of DN have not yet been fully illustrated. Furthermore, DN lacks effective drugs for treatment nowadays. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) often shows the feature of multicomponents, multitargets, multipathways, and synergistic effects and shows a promising source of new therapeutic drugs for DN. As a CHM, Tangshen Formula (TSF) was used to treat DN patients in China. However, its bioactive compounds and holistic pharmacological mechanisms on DN are both unclear. A network pharmacology approach was firstly applied to explore multiple active compounds and multiple key pharmacological mechanisms for TSF treating DN by drug-targeted interaction databases, herb-compound-target network, protein-protein interaction network, compound-target-pathway network, and analysis methods. And the results showed that TSF have the characteristic of multicomponents, multitargets, multipathways, and synergistic effects for treating DN. The quercetin, naringenin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin as key active compounds and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), focal adhesion, rap1 signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and insulin resistance as the key molecular mechanisms play important roles in TSF treating DN. Moreover, quercetin, naringenin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin were successfully detected in TSF by the UHPLC-MS/MS analysis method. And their concentrations were 0.224, 8.295, 0.0564, and 0.0879 mg·kg-1, respectively. The present findings not only provide new insights for a deeper understanding of the constituent basis and pharmacology of TSF but also provide guidance for further pharmacological studies on TSF.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo Zhang ◽  
Jiang-lin Xu ◽  
Ming-qing Wei ◽  
Ting Li ◽  
Jing Shi

Abstract Background and objective: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been a worldwide problem, not only the treatment but also the prevention. As a commonly used Chinese Herbal Formula, Xixin Decoction (XXD) has significant therapeutic effect on AD but without clear mechanism. This study was aimed to predict the main active compounds and targets of XXD in the treatment of AD and to explore the potential mechanism by using network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods: The compounds of XXD were searched in the TCMSP and the TCMID database, and the active compounds were screened based on the ADME model and SwissADME platform. SwissTargetPrediction platform was used to search for the primary candidate targets of XXD. The common targets related to AD obtained by two databases (GeneCards and DisGeNET) were determined as candidate proteins involved in AD. To acquire the related targets of XXD in the treatment of AD, the target proteins related to AD were intersected with the predicted targets of XXD. Then these overlapping targets were imported into the STRING database to build PPI network including hub targets; Cytoscape 3.7.2 software was used to construct the topology analysis for the herb-compound-target network diagram while one of it’s plug-in called CytoNCA was used to calculate degree value to screen the main active compounds of XXD. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were conducted to explore the core mechanism of action and biological pathways associated with the decoction via Metascape platform. We used AutoDock Vina and PyMOL 2.4.0 softwares for molecular docking of hub targets and main compounds.Results: We determined 114 active compounds which meet the conditions of ADME screening, 973 drug targets, and 973 disease targets. However, intersection analysis screened out 208 shared targets. PPI network identified 9 hub targets, including TP53, PIK3CA, MAPK1, MAPK3, STAT3, AKT1, etc. The 10 main active compounds play a major role in treatment of AD by XXD. Hub targets were found to be enriched in 10 KEGG pathways, involving the Pathways in cancer, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, Alzheimer's disease, Neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, Dopaminergic synapse, Serotonergic synapse and MAPK signaling pathway. The docking results indicated that the 8 hub targets exhibit good binding activity with the 9 main active compounds of XXD.Conclusions: We found the advantages of multi-compounds-multi-targets-multi-pathways regulation to reveal the mechanism of XXD for treating AD based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. Our study provided a theorical basis for further clinical application and experimental research of XXD for anti-AD in the future.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jialin Li ◽  
Hua Luo ◽  
Xinkui Liu ◽  
Jingyuan Zhang ◽  
Wei Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Yuzhi Zhixue Granule (YZG)is a traditional Chinese patent medicine for treating excessive menstrual flow caused by ovulatory dysfunctional uterine bleeding (ODUB) accompanied by heat syndrome. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms, potential targets, and active ingredients of this prescription are still unknown. Therefore, it is imperative to explore the molecular mechanism of YZG.Methods: The active compounds in YZG were screened by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP). The putative targets of YZG were collected via TCMSP and Search Tool for Interacting Chemicals (STITCH) databases. The Therapeutic Target Database (TTD) and Pharmacogenomics Knowledgebase (PharmGKB) databases were used to identify the therapeutic targets of ODUB. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network containing both the putative targets of YZG and known therapeutic targets of ODUB was built. Furthermore, bioinformatics resources from the database for annotation, visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID) were utilized for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. Finally, molecular docking was performed to verify the binding effect between the YZG screened compounds and potential therapeutic target molecules.Results: The study employed a network pharmacology method, mainly containing target prediction, network construction, functional enrichment analysis, and molecular docking to systematically research the mechanisms of YZG in treating ODUB. The putative targets of YZG that treat ODUB mainly involved PTGS1, PTGS2, ALOX5, CASP3, LTA4H, F7 and F10. The functional enrichment analysis suggested that the produced therapeutic effect of YZG against ODUB is mediated by synergistical regulation of several biological pathways, including apoptosis arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism, serotonergic synapse, complement and coagulation cascades and C-type lectin receptor signaling pathways. Molecular docking simulation revealed good binding affinity of the seven putative targets with the corresponding compounds.Conclusion: This novel and scientific network pharmacology-based study holistically elucidated the basic pharmacological effects and the underlying mechanisms of YZG in the treatment of ODUB.



Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongfu La ◽  
Xiaoyun He ◽  
Liping Zhang ◽  
Ran Di ◽  
Xiangyu Wang ◽  
...  

Photoperiod is one of the important factors leading to seasonal reproduction of sheep. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the photoperiod regulation of seasonal reproduction remain poorly understood. In this study, we compared the expression profiles of mRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs in uterine tissues from Sunite sheep during three different photoperiods, namely, the short photoperiod (SP), short transfer to long photoperiod (SLP), and long photoperiod (LP). The results showed that 298, 403, and 378 differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs, 171, 491, and 499 DE lncRNAs, and 124, 270, and 400 DE circRNAs were identified between SP and LP, between SP and SLP, and between LP and SLP, respectively. Furthermore, functional enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed RNAs were mainly involved in the GnRH signaling pathway, thyroid hormone synthesis, and thyroid hormone signaling pathway. In addition, co-expression networks of lncRNA–mRNA were constructed based on the correlation analysis between the differentially expressed RNAs. Our study provides new insights into the expression changes of RNAs in different photoperiods, which might contribute to understanding the molecular mechanisms of seasonal reproduction in sheep.



2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Yinhe Deng ◽  
Quanjiang Li ◽  
Menglin Li ◽  
Tiantian Han ◽  
Guixian Li ◽  
...  

Background. Sang-Xing-Zhi-Ke-Fang (SXZKF) demonstrates good therapeutic effect against pharyngitis. Nevertheless, the pharmacological mechanism underlying its effectiveness is still unclear. Objective. To investigate the underlying mechanisms of SXZKF against pharyngitis using network pharmacology method. Methods. Bioactive ingredients of SXZKF were collected and screened using published literature and two public databases. Using four public databases, the overlapping genes between these bioactive compound-related and pharyngitis-related genes were identified by Venn diagram. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) was obtained using “Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING)” database. “Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery ver. 6.8 (DAVID 6.8)” was used to perform Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis to explore the molecular mechanisms of SXZKF against pharyngitis. Finally, Cytoscape 3.7.2 software was used to construct and visualize the networks. Result. A total of 102 bioactive compounds were identified. Among them, 886 compounds-related and 6258 pharyngitis-related genes were identified, including 387 overlapping genes. Sixty-three core targets were obtained, including ALB, PPARγ, MAPK3, EGF, and PTGS2. Signaling pathways closely related to mechanisms of SXZKF for pharyngitis were identified, including serotonergic synapse, VEGF signaling pathway, Fc epsilon RI signaling pathway, Ras signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and influenza A. Conclusion. This is the first identification of in-depth study of SXZKF against pharyngitis using network pharmacology. This new evidence could be informative in providing new support on the clinical effects of SXZKF on pharyngitis and for the development of personalized medicine for pharyngitis.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
tan xin ◽  
Wei Xian ◽  
Xiaorong Li ◽  
Yongfeng Chen ◽  
Jiayi Geng ◽  
...  

Abstract PurposeAtrial fibrillation (AF) is a common atrial arrhythmia. Quercetin (Que) has some advantages in the treatment of cardiovascular disease arrhythmias, but its specific drug mechanism of action needs further investigation. To explore the mechanism of action of Que in AF, core target speculation and analysis were performed using network pharmacology and molecular docking methods.MethodsQue chemical structures were obtained from Pubchem. TCMSP, Swiss Target Prediction, Drugbank , STITCH, Binding DB, Pharmmapper, CTD, GeneCards, DISGENET and TTD were used to obtain drug component targets and AF-related genes, and extract AF from normal tissues by GEO database differentially expressed genes. Then, the intersecting genes were obtained by online Wayne mapping tool. The intersection genes were introduced into the top five targets selected for molecular docking via protein-protein interaction (PPI) network to verify the binding activity between Que and the target proteins. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of the intersected genes using program R was performed to further screen for key genes and key pathways.ResultsThere were 65 effective targets for Que and AF. Through further screening, the top 5 targets were IL6, VEGFA, JUN, MMP9 and EGFR. Que treatment of AF may involve signaling pathways such as lipid and atherosclerosis pathway, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, MAPK signaling pathway and IL-17 signaling pathway. Molecular docking suggests that Que has strong binding to key targets.ConclusionThis study systematically elucidates the key targets of Que treatment for AF and the specific mechanisms through network pharmacology as well as molecular docking, providing a new direction for further basic experimental exploration and clinical treatment.



Author(s):  
Ming Ming Liu ◽  
Nan Ning Lv ◽  
Rui Geng ◽  
Zhen Hua ◽  
Yong Ma ◽  
...  

Background: Diabetic nephropathy-related osteoporosis (DNOP) is the most common comorbid bone metabolic disorder associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). The Liuwei Dihuang Pill (LWD) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine widely used to treat diabetic complications, including diabetic nephropathy (DN). This study aimed to identify the biomarkers of the mechanisms of DNOP in LWD with systems biology approaches. Methods: Herein, we performed an integrated analysis of the GSE51674 and GSE63446 datasets from the GEO database via weighted gene co-expression network and network pharmacology (WGCNA) analysis. In addition, a network pharmacology approach, including bioactive compounds, was used with oral bioavailability (OB) and drug-likeness (DL) evaluation. Next, target prediction, functional enrichment analysis, network analysis, and virtual docking were used to investigate the mechanisms of LWD in DNOP. Results : WGCNA successfully identified 63 DNOP-related miRNAs. Among them, miR-574 was significantly upregulated in DN and OP samples. A total of 117 targets of 22 components associated with LWD in DNOP were obtained. The cellular response to nitrogen compounds, the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, and the MAPK signaling pathway were related to the main targets. Network analysis showed that kaempferol and quercetin were the most significant components. MAPK1 was identified as a potential target of miR-574 and the hub genes in the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. The docking models demonstrated that kaempferol and quercetin had a strong binding affinity for Asp 167 of MAPK1. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that miR-574 may play important roles in DNOP, and the therapeutic effects of kaempferol and quercetin on LWD in DNOP might be mediated by miR-574 by targeting MAPK1. Our results provide new perspectives for further studies on the anti-DNOP mechanism of LWD.



2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jialin Li ◽  
Hua Luo ◽  
Xinkui Liu ◽  
Jingyuan Zhang ◽  
Wei Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Yuzhi Zhixue Granule (YZG) is a traditional Chinese patent medicine for treating excessive menstrual flow caused by ovulatory dysfunctional uterine bleeding (ODUB) accompanied by heat syndrome. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms, potential targets, and active ingredients of this prescription are still unknown. Therefore, it is imperative to explore the molecular mechanism of YZG. Methods The active compounds in YZG were screened by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP). The putative targets of YZG were collected via TCMSP and Search Tool for Interacting Chemicals (STITCH) databases. The Therapeutic Target Database (TTD) and Pharmacogenomics Knowledgebase (PharmGKB) databases were used to identify the therapeutic targets of ODUB. A protein–protein interaction (PPI) network containing both the putative targets of YZG and known therapeutic targets of ODUB was built. Furthermore, bioinformatics resources from the database for annotation, visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID) were utilized for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. Finally, molecular docking was performed to verify the binding effect between the YZG screened compounds and potential therapeutic target molecules. Results The study employed a network pharmacology method, mainly containing target prediction, network construction, functional enrichment analysis, and molecular docking to systematically research the mechanisms of YZG in treating ODUB. The putative targets of YZG that treat ODUB mainly involved PTGS1, PTGS2, ALOX5, CASP3, LTA4H, F7 and F10. The functional enrichment analysis suggested that the produced therapeutic effect of YZG against ODUB is mediated by synergistical regulation of several biological pathways, including apoptosis arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism, serotonergic synapse, complement and coagulation cascades and C-type lectin receptor signaling pathways. Molecular docking simulation revealed good binding affinity of the seven putative targets with the corresponding compounds. Conclusion This novel and scientific network pharmacology-based study holistically elucidated the basic pharmacological effects and the underlying mechanisms of YZG in the treatment of ODUB.



2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Zhencheng Xiong ◽  
Can Zheng ◽  
Yanan Chang ◽  
Kuankuan Liu ◽  
Li Shu ◽  
...  

Objective. The purpose of this work is to study the mechanism of action of Duhuo Jisheng Decoction (DHJSD) in the treatment of osteoporosis based on the methods of bioinformatics and network pharmacology. Methods. In this study, the active compounds of each medicinal ingredient of DHJSD and their corresponding targets were obtained from TCMSP database. Osteoporosis was treated as search query in GeneCards, MalaCards, DisGeNET, Therapeutic Target Database (TTD), Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD), and OMIM databases to obtain disease-related genes. The overlapping targets of DHJSD and osteoporosis were identified, and then GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were performed. Cytoscape was employed to construct DHJSD-compounds-target genes-osteoporosis network and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. CytoHubba was utilized to select the hub genes. The activities of binding of hub genes and key components were confirmed by molecular docking. Results. 174 active compounds and their 205 related potential targets were identified in DHJSD for the treatment of osteoporosis, including 10 hub genes (AKT1, ALB, IL6, MAPK3, VEGFA, JUN, CASP3, EGFR, MYC, and EGF). Pathway enrichment analysis of target proteins indicated that osteoclast differentiation, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, Wnt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, calcium signaling pathway, and TNF signaling pathway were the specifically major pathways regulated by DHJSD against osteoporosis. Further verification based on molecular docking results showed that the small molecule compounds (Quercetin, Kaempferol, Beta-sitosterol, Beta-carotene, and Formononetin) contained in DHJSD generally have excellent binding affinity to the macromolecular target proteins encoded by the top 10 genes. Conclusion. This study reveals the characteristics of multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway of DHJSD against osteoporosis and provides novel insights for verifying the mechanism of DHJSD in the treatment of osteoporosis.



2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaling Deng ◽  
Xianwen Ye ◽  
Yufan Chen ◽  
Hongmin Ren ◽  
Lanting Xia ◽  
...  

Objective: The technology, network pharmacology and molecular docking technology of the ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) were used to explore the potential molecular mechanism of Platycodon grandiflorum (PG) in the treatment of lung cancer (LC).Methods: UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS technology was used to analyze the ingredients of PG and the potential LC targets were obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database, and the Analysis Platform (TCMSP), GeneCards and other databases. The interaction network of the drug-disease targets was constructed with the additional use of STRING 11.0. The pathway enrichment analysis was carried out using Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) in Metascape, and then the “Drug-Ingredients-Targets-Pathways-Disease” (D-I-T-P-D) network was constructed using Cytoscape v3.7.1. Finally, the Discovery Studio 2016 (DS) software was used to evaluate the molecular docking.Results: Forty-seven compounds in PG, including triterpenoid saponins, steroidal saponins and flavonoids, were identified and nine main bioactive components including platycodin D were screened. According to the method of data mining, 545 potential drug targets and 2,664 disease-related targets were collected. The results of topological analysis revealed 20 core targets including caspase 3 (CASP3) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) suggesting that the potential signaling pathway potentially involved in the treatment of LC included MAPK signaling pathway and P13K-AKT signaling pathway. The results of molecular docking proved that the bound of the ingredients with potential key targets was excellent.Conclusion: The results in this study provided a novel insight in the exploration of the mechanism of action of PG against LC.



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