School of Information Management, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine , 250355 Jinan, China.
Centre for Molecular Science Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge , Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom.
J Chem Inf Model. 2017 Mar 27;57(3):468-483. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.6b00725. Epub 2017 Mar 16.
One important, however, poorly understood, concept of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is that of hot, cold, and neutral nature of its bioactive principles. To advance the field, in this study, we analyzed compound-nature pairs from TCM on a large scale (>23 000 structures) via chemical space visualizations to understand its physicochemical domain and in silico target prediction to understand differences related to their modes-of-action (MoA) against proteins. We found that overall TCM natures spread into different subclusters with specific molecular patterns, as opposed to forming coherent global groups. Compounds associated with cold nature had a lower clogP and contain more aliphatic rings than the other groups and were found to control detoxification, heat-clearing, heart development processes, and have sedative function, associated with "Mental and behavioural disorders" diseases. While compounds associated with hot nature were on average of lower molecular weight, have more aromatic ring systems than other groups, frequently seemed to control body temperature, have cardio-protection function, improve fertility and sexual function, and represent excitatory or activating effects, associated with "endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases" and "diseases of the circulatory system". Compounds associated with neutral nature had a higher polar surface area and contain more cyclohexene moieties than other groups and seem to be related to memory function, suggesting that their nature may be a useful guide for their utility in neural degenerative diseases. We were hence able to elucidate the difference between different nature classes in TCM on the molecular level, and on a large data set, for the first time, thereby helping a better understanding of TCM nature theory and bridging the gap between traditional medicine and our current understanding of the human body.
中药(TCM)的一个重要但理解不充分的概念是其生物活性成分的热、寒、中性特性。为了推动这一领域的发展,本研究通过化学空间可视化对 TCM 的化合物性质对进行了大规模分析(>23000 个结构),以了解其物理化学领域,并进行计算机预测以了解其与蛋白质相互作用模式(MoA)相关的差异。我们发现,TCM 整体性质在不同的子群中扩散,具有特定的分子模式,而不是形成一致的整体群体。与寒性相关的化合物具有较低的 clogP 值,并且比其他组含有更多的脂肪环,被发现控制解毒、清热、心脏发育过程,并具有镇静作用,与“精神和行为障碍”疾病有关。而与热性相关的化合物平均分子量较低,比其他组具有更多的芳环系统,经常似乎控制体温,具有心脏保护功能,提高生育和性功能,并具有兴奋或激活作用,与“内分泌、营养和代谢疾病”和“循环系统疾病”有关。与中性性质相关的化合物具有较高的极性表面积,并且比其他组含有更多的环己烯部分,似乎与记忆功能有关,表明它们的性质可能是其在神经退行性疾病中应用的有用指南。因此,我们首次能够在分子水平上阐明 TCM 不同性质类别之间的差异,并在大数据集上,从而帮助更好地理解 TCM 性质理论,并弥合传统医学与我们当前对人体理解之间的差距。