Sun Feifei, Liu Jinde, Tariq Ali, Wang Zhonglei, Wu Yongning, Li Lin
Animal-Derived Food Safety Innovation Team, College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.
NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chinese Academy of Medical Science Research Unit (2019RU014), Beijing 100017, China.
Arab J Chem. 2023 Jun;16(6):104722. doi: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2023.104722. Epub 2023 Mar 6.
Natural products play an irreplaceable role in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nevertheless, the underlying molecular mechanisms involved remain elusive. To better understand their potential therapeutic effects, more validation studies are needed to explore underlying mechanisms systematically. This study aims to explore the potential targets of action and signaling pathways of cepharanthine for the treatment of COVID-19. This study revealed that a total of 173 potential targets of action for Cepharanthine and 86 intersectional targets for Cepharanthine against COVID-19 were screened and collected. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis suggested that inflammatory, immune cell and enzyme activities were the critical terms for cepharanthine against COVID-19. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that five pathways associated with COVID-19 were the main signaling pathways for the treatment of COVID-19 via cepharanthine. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations suggested that 6 core targets were regarded as potential targets for cepharanthine against COVID-19. In brief, the study demonstrates that cepharanthine may play an important role in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection through its harmonious activity against SARS-CoV-2 pathways and multiple related targets. This article provides valuable insights required to respond effectively to concerns of western medical community.
天然产物在治疗新型冠状病毒肺炎（SARS-CoV-2）感染中发挥着不可替代的作用。然而，其潜在的分子机制仍不清楚。为了更好地了解它们的潜在治疗效果，需要更多的验证研究来系统地探索其潜在机制。本研究旨在探索千金藤素治疗新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）的潜在作用靶点和信号通路。本研究发现，共筛选并收集到千金藤素的173个潜在作用靶点以及千金藤素抗COVID-19的86个交集靶点。基因本体富集分析表明，炎症、免疫细胞和酶活性是千金藤素抗COVID-19的关键术语。通路富集分析显示，五条与COVID-19相关的通路是千金藤素治疗COVID-19的主要信号通路。分子对接和分子动力学模拟表明，6个核心靶点被认为是千金藤素抗COVID-19的潜在靶点。简而言之，该研究表明千金藤素可能通过其对SARS-CoV-2通路和多个相关靶点的协同作用在治疗SARS-CoV-2感染中发挥重要作用。本文为有效回应西方医学界的担忧提供了有价值的见解。
