Molecular Docking: A Practical Approach for Protein Interaction Analysis

2014 ◽  
pp. 368-377
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Mingmin Wang ◽  
Shuangjie Yang ◽  
Mingyan Shao ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Xiaoping Wang ◽  
...  

The Guanxin Suhe pill (GSP), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used to treat angina pectoris (AP) in Chinese clinical practice. However, research on the bioactive ingredients and underlying mechanisms of GSP in AP remains scarce. In this study, a system pharmacology approach integrating gastrointestinal absorption (GA) evaluation, drug-likeness (DL) evaluation, target exploration, protein-protein-interaction analysis, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, network construction, and molecular docking was adopted to explore its potential mechanisms. A total of 481 ingredients from five herbs were collected, and 242 were qualified based on GA and DL evaluation. Target exploration identified 107 shared targets between GSP and AP. Protein-protein interaction identified VEGFA (vascular endothelial growth factor A), TNF (tumor necrosis factor), CCL2 (C-C motif chemokine ligand 2), FN1 (fibronectin 1), MMP9 (matrix metallopeptidase 9), PTGS2 (prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2), IL10 (interleukin 10), CXCL8 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8), IL6 (interleukin 6), and INS (insulin) as hub targets for GSP, which were involved in the inflammatory process, ECM proteolysis, glucose metabolism, and lipid metabolism. GO enrichment identified top pathways in the biological processes, molecular functions, and cell components, explaining GSP’s potential AP treatment mechanism. Positive regulation of the nitric oxide biosynthetic process and the response to hypoxia ranked highest of the biological processes; core targets that GSP can regulate in these two pathways were PTGS2 and NOS2, respectively. Molecular docking verified the interactions between the core genes in the pathway and the active ingredients. The study lays a foundation for further experimental research and clinical application.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1934578X2110150
Author(s):  
Gang Li ◽  
Wei Zhou ◽  
Xiurong Zhao ◽  
Ying Xie

The novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, has led to a major pandemic in 2020 and is responsible for more than 2.9 million officially recorded deaths worldwide. As well as synthetic anti-viral drugs, there is also a need to explore natural herbal remedies. The Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) system has been used for thousands of years for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of several chronic diseases. In this paper, we performed an in silico molecular docking and interaction analysis of TCMs against SARS-CoV-2 receptor RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). We obtained the 5 most effective plant compounds which had a better binding affinity towards the target receptor protein. These compounds areforsythoside A, rutin, ginkgolide C, icariside II, and nolinospiroside E. The top-ranked compound, based on docking score, was nolinospiroside, a glycoside found in Ophiopogon japonicas that has antioxidant properties. Protein-ligand interaction analysis discerned that nolinospiroside formed a strong bond between ARG 349 of the protein receptor and the carboxylate group of the ligand, forming a stable complex. Hence, nolinospiroside could be deployed as a lead compound against SARS-CoV-2 infection that can be further investigated for its potential benefits in curbing the viral infection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1934578X2098213
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Deng ◽  
Yuhua Liang ◽  
Jianmei Hu ◽  
Yuhui Yang

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease that is very common and seriously threatens patient health. Gegen Qinlian decoction (GQD) has long been applied clinically, but its mechanism in pharmacology has not been extensively and systematically studied. A GQD protein interaction network and diabetes protein interaction network were constructed based on the methods of system biology. Functional module analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis, and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis were carried out on the 2 networks. The hub nodes were filtered by comparative analysis. The topological parameters, interactions, and biological functions of the 2 networks were analyzed in multiple ways. By applying GEO-based external datasets to verify the results of our analysis that the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) displayed metabolic pathways in which hub genes played roles in regulating different expression states. Molecular docking is used to verify the effective components that can be combined with hub nodes. By comparing the 2 networks, 24 hub targets were filtered. There were 7 complex relationships between the networks. The results showed 4 topological parameters of the 24 selected hub targets that were much higher than the median values, suggesting that these hub targets show specific involvement in the network. The hub genes were verified in the GEO database, and these genes were closely related to the biological processes involved in glucose metabolism. Molecular docking results showed that 5,7,2', 6'-tetrahydroxyflavone, magnograndiolide, gancaonin I, isoglycyrol, gancaonin A, worenine, and glyzaglabrin produced the strongest binding effect with 10 hub nodes. This compound–target mode of interaction may be the main mechanism of action of GQD. This study reflected the synergistic characteristics of multiple targets and multiple pathways of traditional Chinese medicine and discussed the mechanism of GQD in the treatment of DM at the molecular pharmacological level.


2007 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y KUMADA ◽  
C ZHAO ◽  
R ISHIMURA ◽  
H IMANAKA ◽  
K IMAMURA ◽  
...  

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