Cai Ying, Guo Sifan, Lin Chunsheng, Wang Yan, Wang Chao, Wang Zhibo, Xie Dandan, Guan Yu, Qiu Shi, Dong Hui, Zhang Aihua
Graduate School, Second Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, 150040, China.
International Advanced Functional Omics Platform, Scientific Experiment Center, Hainan Engineering Research Center for Biological Sample Resources of Major Diseases, Hainan Medical University, Xueyuan Road 3, Haikou, 571199, China.
Curr Pharm Des. 2025;31(23):1885-1902. doi: 10.2174/0113816128374077250410042947.
BACKGROUND: Simiao Pill (SMP) has been demonstrated to suppress inflammation and modulate immune function, thereby influencing the onset and progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Nonetheless, the specific molecular mechanisms and targets through which SMP mediates metabolic regulation and enhances immune function have yet to be fully elucidated. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we employed an integrated approach combining the analysis of dysregulated metabolites and proteins to identify, screen, and validate the metabolic regulatory targets of SMP in adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rats by using pseudotargeted metabolomics and 4D-DIA quantitative proteomics methodologies. METHODS: An AIA rat model was developed, and SMP was administered to AIA rats. Subsequently, assessments were conducted on paw edema, arthritis scores, histopathological changes and IL-1 β content of inflammatory factors in AIA rats. UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS was employed to analyze endogenous metabolites in the serum. Metabolic pathway and protein profile were performed on the biomarkers. The protein-lipidphenotype map for the SMP-treated rats was constructed and the primary target closely related to the metabolic regulation of SMP was further screened and verified. RESULTS: Pseudotargeted metabolomics analysis revealed that SMP can mitigate the down-regulation of lipid levels in AIA rats. Pathway enrichment analysis identified arachidonic acid metabolism as the most significantly affected metabolic pathway and SMP was found to substantially ameliorate the dysregulation of this pathway in AIA rats. Subsequent protein profiling led to the identification of five key proteins, with noteworthy obvious corrective effects observed on Ptges3 and Alox15 due to SMP treatment. A comprehensive protein- lipid-phenotypic landscape of SMP-treated rats was analyzed for the specific molecular expressions associated with the arachidonic acid pathway. According to the correlation matrix of dysregulated metabolite/ protein, we found that Ptges3 was ranked as the primary target closely related to the metabolic regulation of SMP, a finding further validated through immunofluorescence staining in rat joint and synovial cells. CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed that SMP exerts an anti-arthritic effect by modulating the arachidonic acid metabolic network via the Ptges3 protein in rat joints and human rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts. This finding offers a novel mechanistic insight into the pharmacological action of SMP in AIA rats. It informs future research on the therapeutic potential of SMP in RA.
背景:已证实四妙丸(SMP)可抑制炎症并调节免疫功能,从而影响类风湿关节炎(RA)的发病和进展。尽管如此,SMP介导代谢调节和增强免疫功能的具体分子机制和靶点尚未完全阐明。 目的:在本研究中,我们采用整合失调代谢物和蛋白质分析的方法,通过伪靶向代谢组学和4D-DIA定量蛋白质组学方法,在佐剂诱导的关节炎(AIA)大鼠中鉴定、筛选和验证SMP的代谢调节靶点。 方法:建立AIA大鼠模型,并对AIA大鼠给予SMP。随后,对AIA大鼠的爪肿胀、关节炎评分、组织病理学变化以及炎症因子白细胞介素-1β含量进行评估。采用超高效液相色谱-四极杆飞行时间串联质谱(UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS)分析血清中的内源性代谢物。对生物标志物进行代谢途径和蛋白质谱分析。构建SMP处理大鼠的蛋白质-脂质-表型图谱,并进一步筛选和验证与SMP代谢调节密切相关的主要靶点。 结果:伪靶向代谢组学分析表明,SMP可减轻AIA大鼠脂质水平的下调。通路富集分析确定花生四烯酸代谢是受影响最显著的代谢途径,且发现SMP可显著改善AIA大鼠该途径的失调。随后的蛋白质谱分析鉴定出5种关键蛋白质,SMP处理对Ptges3和Alox15有明显的校正作用。分析了SMP处理大鼠的综合蛋白质-脂质-表型图谱,以确定与花生四烯酸途径相关的特定分子表达。根据失调代谢物/蛋白质的相关矩阵,我们发现Ptges3是与SMP代谢调节密切相关的主要靶点,这一发现通过大鼠关节和滑膜细胞的免疫荧光染色得到进一步验证。 结论:我们的研究证实,SMP通过大鼠关节和人类风湿关节炎滑膜成纤维细胞中的Ptges3蛋白调节花生四烯酸代谢网络发挥抗关节炎作用。这一发现为SMP在AIA大鼠中的药理作用提供了新的机制见解。它为未来SMP在RA治疗潜力的研究提供了参考。
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