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Zhu Y, Yang H, Han L, Mervin LH, Hosseini-Gerami L, Li P, Wright P, Trapotsi MA, Liu K, Fan TP, Bender A. In silico prediction and biological assessment of novel angiogenesis modulators from traditional Chinese medicine. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1116081. [PMID: 36817116 PMCID: PMC9937659 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1116081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Uncontrolled angiogenesis is a common denominator underlying many deadly and debilitating diseases such as myocardial infarction, chronic wounds, cancer, and age-related macular degeneration. As the current range of FDA-approved angiogenesis-based medicines are far from meeting clinical demands, the vast reserve of natural products from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) offers an alternative source for developing pro-angiogenic or anti-angiogenic modulators. Here, we investigated 100 traditional Chinese medicine-derived individual metabolites which had reported gene expression in MCF7 cell lines in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GSE85871). We extracted literature angiogenic activities for 51 individual metabolites, and subsequently analysed their predicted targets and differentially expressed genes to understand their mechanisms of action. The angiogenesis phenotype was used to generate decision trees for rationalising the poly-pharmacology of known angiogenesis modulators such as ferulic acid and curculigoside and validated by an in vitro endothelial tube formation assay and a zebrafish model of angiogenesis. Moreover, using an in silico model we prospectively examined the angiogenesis-modulating activities of the remaining 49 individual metabolites. In vitro, tetrahydropalmatine and 1 beta-hydroxyalantolactone stimulated, while cinobufotalin and isoalantolactone inhibited endothelial tube formation. In vivo, ginsenosides Rb3 and Rc, 1 beta-hydroxyalantolactone and surprisingly cinobufotalin, restored angiogenesis against PTK787-induced impairment in zebrafish. In the absence of PTK787, deoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid did not affect angiogenesis. Despite some limitations, these results suggest further refinements of in silico prediction combined with biological assessment will be a valuable platform for accelerating the research and development of natural products from traditional Chinese medicine and understanding their mechanisms of action, and also for other traditional medicines for the prevention and treatment of angiogenic diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingli Zhu
- Department of Clinical Chinese Pharmacy, School of Chinese Material Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China,Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Hongbin Yang
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Liwen Han
- Engineering Research Center of Zebrafish Models for Human Diseases and Drug Screening of Shandong Province, Biology Institute, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China,School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, China
| | - Lewis H. Mervin
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Layla Hosseini-Gerami
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Peihai Li
- Engineering Research Center of Zebrafish Models for Human Diseases and Drug Screening of Shandong Province, Biology Institute, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China
| | - Peter Wright
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Maria-Anna Trapotsi
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Kechun Liu
- Engineering Research Center of Zebrafish Models for Human Diseases and Drug Screening of Shandong Province, Biology Institute, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China
| | - Tai-Ping Fan
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Tai-Ping Fan, ; Andreas Bender,
| | - Andreas Bender
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Tai-Ping Fan, ; Andreas Bender,
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Bouadid I, Moujane S, Akdad M, Benaissa M, Eddouks M. In silico Evaluation of ACE2 Inhibition by Prunus armeniaca L. and in vivo Toxicity Study. Cardiovasc Hematol Disord Drug Targets 2023; 23:246-255. [PMID: 38192214 DOI: 10.2174/011871529x265182231211103724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND SARS-CoV-2 is a virus that uses ACE2 to enter the host cell. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This study aimed to evaluate the in silico inhibitory activity of polyphenols from Prunus armeniaca (P. armeniaca) on angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). METHODS The efficacy of phytocompounds from P. armeniaca in inhibiting ACE2 was tested through molecular docking and dynamic analyses. The toxicological analysis of P. armeniaca was also evaluated. RESULTS A total of twenty polyphenols were docked against the ACE2 active site, and four compounds showed interesting profiles. In vivo acute toxicity study demonstrated that the aqueous extract of Prunus armeniaca was safe. CONCLUSION Four compounds from Prunus armeniaca seem to exert an inhibitory potential of ACE2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ismail Bouadid
- Team of Ethnopharmacology and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques Errachidia, Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, BP 509, Boutalamine, Errachidia, 52000, Morocco
| | - Soumia Moujane
- Biochemistry of natural substances, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Errachidia, Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, Morocco
| | - Mourad Akdad
- Team of Ethnopharmacology and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques Errachidia, Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, BP 509, Boutalamine, Errachidia, 52000, Morocco
| | - Moualij Benaissa
- Biochemistry of natural substances, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Errachidia, Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, Morocco
| | - Mohamed Eddouks
- Team of Ethnopharmacology and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques Errachidia, Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, BP 509, Boutalamine, Errachidia, 52000, Morocco
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Efficacy of Dialectical Comprehensive Treatment of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Patients with Chronic Stable Heart Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Cardiol Res Pract 2022; 2022:5408063. [PMID: 35600332 PMCID: PMC9119774 DOI: 10.1155/2022/5408063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The treatment of chronic stable heart failure (CSHF) with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine has been of wide concern. We mainly discuss the clinical efficacy of TCM decoction combined with acupuncture and moxibustion (A&M) in CSHF treatment on the basis of syndrome differentiation and treatment (SDT). The control group was given conventional cardiac rehabilitation (CCR), and the treatment group was given TCM decoction combined with A&M treatment based on SDT on the basis of conventional cardiac rehabilitation. The clinical efficacy and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) indicators were evaluated. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), NT-proBNP, myocardial ischemia threshold (MIT), and 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) were measured by ultrasound, ELISA, electrocardiogram, and 6MWD test. After treatment, the clinical efficacy, LVEF, and 6MWD of the treatment group were better than in the control group. The NT-proBNP plasma level and MIT in the treatment group were lower than in the control group. The treatment group had enhanced AT, VO2 Peak, VO2 Peak/HR, and Peak power and decreased resting systolic pressure and peak systolic pressure, and the difference was statistically significant. Dialectical comprehensive treatment of TCM could effectively improve cardiac function and clinical treatment effect, which was worthy of clinical application.
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Gu S, Lai LH. Associating 197 Chinese herbal medicine with drug targets and diseases using the similarity ensemble approach. Acta Pharmacol Sin 2020; 41:432-438. [PMID: 31530902 PMCID: PMC7470807 DOI: 10.1038/s41401-019-0306-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Accepted: 08/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) addresses complex diseases through polypharmacological interactions. However, systematic studies of herbal medicine pharmacology remain challenging due to the complexity of CHM ingredients and their interactions with various targets. In this study, we aim to address this challenge with computational approaches. We investigated the herb-target-disease associations of 197 commonly prescribed CHMs using the similarity ensemble approach and DisGeNET database. We demonstrated that this method can be applied to associate herbs with their putative targets. In the case study of three well-known herbs, Radix Glycyrrhizae, Flos Lonicerae, and Rhizoma Coptidis, approximately 70% of the predicted targets were supported by scientific literature. By linking 406 targets to 2439 annotated diseases, we further analyzed the pharmacological functions of 197 herbs. Finally, we proposed a strategy of target-oriented herbal formula design and illustrated the target profiles for four common chronic diseases, namely, Alzheimer's disease, depressive disorder, hypertensive disease, and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. This computational approach holds great potential in the target identification of herbs, understanding the molecular mechanisms of CHM, and designing novel herbal formulas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuo Gu
- BNLMS, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, and the Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Lu-Hua Lai
- BNLMS, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, and the Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
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Mervin LH, Bulusu KC, Kalash L, Afzal AM, Svensson F, Firth MA, Barrett I, Engkvist O, Bender A. Orthologue chemical space and its influence on target prediction. Bioinformatics 2018; 34:72-79. [PMID: 28961699 PMCID: PMC5870859 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btx525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2017] [Accepted: 08/25/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Motivation In silico approaches often fail to utilize bioactivity data available for orthologous targets due to insufficient evidence highlighting the benefit for such an approach. Deeper investigation into orthologue chemical space and its influence toward expanding compound and target coverage is necessary to improve the confidence in this practice. Results Here we present analysis of the orthologue chemical space in ChEMBL and PubChem and its impact on target prediction. We highlight the number of conflicting bioactivities between human and orthologues is low and annotations are overall compatible. Chemical space analysis shows orthologues are chemically dissimilar to human with high intra-group similarity, suggesting they could effectively extend the chemical space modelled. Based on these observations, we show the benefit of orthologue inclusion in terms of novel target coverage. We also benchmarked predictive models using a time-series split and also using bioactivities from Chemistry Connect and HTS data available at AstraZeneca, showing that orthologue bioactivity inclusion statistically improved performance. Availability and implementation Orthologue-based bioactivity prediction and the compound training set are available at www.github.com/lhm30/PIDGINv2. Contact ab454@cam.ac.uk. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis H Mervin
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Krishna C Bulusu
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Oncology Innovative Medicines and Early Development, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Leen Kalash
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Avid M Afzal
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Fredrik Svensson
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Mike A Firth
- Discovery Sciences, AstraZeneca R&D, Cambridge Science Park, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ian Barrett
- Discovery Sciences, AstraZeneca R&D, Cambridge Science Park, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ola Engkvist
- Discovery Sciences, AstraZeneca R&D Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden
| | - Andreas Bender
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- To whom correspondence should be addressed.
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Huang T, Mi H, Lin CY, Zhao L, Zhong LLD, Liu FB, Zhang G, Lu AP, Bian ZX. MOST: most-similar ligand based approach to target prediction. BMC Bioinformatics 2017; 18:165. [PMID: 28284192 PMCID: PMC5346209 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-017-1586-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2016] [Accepted: 03/04/2017] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Many computational approaches have been used for target prediction, including machine learning, reverse docking, bioactivity spectra analysis, and chemical similarity searching. Recent studies have suggested that chemical similarity searching may be driven by the most-similar ligand. However, the extent of bioactivity of most-similar ligands has been oversimplified or even neglected in these studies, and this has impaired the prediction power. RESULTS Here we propose the MOst-Similar ligand-based Target inference approach, namely MOST, which uses fingerprint similarity and explicit bioactivity of the most-similar ligands to predict targets of the query compound. Performance of MOST was evaluated by using combinations of different fingerprint schemes, machine learning methods, and bioactivity representations. In sevenfold cross-validation with a benchmark Ki dataset from CHEMBL release 19 containing 61,937 bioactivity data of 173 human targets, MOST achieved high average prediction accuracy (0.95 for pKi ≥ 5, and 0.87 for pKi ≥ 6). Morgan fingerprint was shown to be slightly better than FP2. Logistic Regression and Random Forest methods performed better than Naïve Bayes. In a temporal validation, the Ki dataset from CHEMBL19 were used to train models and predict the bioactivity of newly deposited ligands in CHEMBL20. MOST also performed well with high accuracy (0.90 for pKi ≥ 5, and 0.76 for pKi ≥ 6), when Logistic Regression and Morgan fingerprint were employed. Furthermore, the p values associated with explicit bioactivity were found be a robust index for removing false positive predictions. Implicit bioactivity did not offer this capability. Finally, p values generated with Logistic Regression, Morgan fingerprint and explicit activity were integrated with a false discovery rate (FDR) control procedure to reduce false positives in multiple-target prediction scenario, and the success of this strategy it was demonstrated with a case of fluanisone. In the case of aloe-emodin's laxative effect, MOST predicted that acetylcholinesterase was the mechanism-of-action target; in vivo studies validated this prediction. CONCLUSIONS Using the MOST approach can result in highly accurate and robust target prediction. Integrated with a FDR control procedure, MOST provides a reliable framework for multiple-target inference. It has prospective applications in drug repurposing and mechanism-of-action target prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Huang
- Lab of Brain and Gut Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Hong Mi
- Lab of Brain and Gut Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, People's Republic of China
| | - Cheng-Yuan Lin
- Lab of Brain and Gut Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,YMU-HKBU Joint Laboratory of Traditional Natural Medicine, Yunnan Minzu University, Kunming, 650500, People's Republic of China
| | - Ling Zhao
- Lab of Brain and Gut Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Linda L D Zhong
- Lab of Brain and Gut Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Clinical Study Centre, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Feng-Bin Liu
- Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, People's Republic of China
| | - Ge Zhang
- Lab of Brain and Gut Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Ai-Ping Lu
- Lab of Brain and Gut Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Clinical Study Centre, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhao-Xiang Bian
- Lab of Brain and Gut Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. .,Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Clinical Study Centre, Hong Kong Baptist University, 7 Baptist University Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
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