Molecular docking and network connections of active compounds from the classical herbal formula Ding Chuan Tang

PeerJ

article

Allison Clyne¹  Liping Yang²  Ming Yang³  Brian May¹  Angela Wei Hong Yang¹ 

[1] Chinese Medicine, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University;Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Hospital;National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences;Clinical Trial Center, Beijing Hospital

关键词: Herbal medicine;    Complementary medicine;    Natural product;    Asthma;    Respiratory disease;    Network pharmacology;    Computational analysis;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.8685

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background Ding Chuan Tang (DCT), a traditional Chinese herbal formula, has been consistently prescribed for the therapeutic management of wheezing and asthma-related indications since the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD). This study aimed to identify molecular network pharmacology connections to understand the biological asthma-linked mechanisms of action of DCT and potentially identify novel avenues for asthma drug development. Methods Employing molecular docking (AutoDock Vina) and computational analysis (Cytoscape 3.6.0) strategies for DCT compounds permitted examination of docking connections for proteins that were targets of DCT compounds and asthma genes. These identified protein targets were further analyzed to establish and interpret network connections associated with asthma disease pathways. Results A total of 396 DCT compounds and 234 asthma genes were identified through database search. Computational molecular docking of DCT compounds identified five proteins (ESR1, KDR, LTA4H, PDE4D and PPARG) mutually targeted by asthma genes and DCT compounds and 155 docking connections associated with cellular pathways involved in the biological mechanisms of asthma. Conclusions DCT compounds directly target biological pathways connected with the pathogenesis of asthma including inflammatory and metabolic signaling pathways.

【 授权许可】

CC BY