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In silico database screening of potential targets and pathways of compounds contained in plants used for psoriasis vulgaris

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Abstract

Reviews and meta-analyses of clinical trials identified plants used as traditional medicines (TMs) that show promise for psoriasis. These include Rehmannia glutinosa, Camptotheca acuminata, Indigo naturalis and Salvia miltiorrhiza. Compounds contained in these TMs have shown activities of relevance to psoriasis in experimental models. To further investigate the likely mechanisms of action of the multiple compounds in these TMs, we undertook a computer-based in silico investigation of the proteins known to be regulated by these compounds and their associated biological pathways. The proteins reportedly regulated by compounds in these four TMs were identified using the HIT (Herbal Ingredients' Targets) database. The resultant data were entered into the PANTHER (Protein ANnotation THrough Evolutionary Relationship) database to identify the pathways in which the proteins could be involved. The study identified 237 compounds in the TMs and these retrieved 287 proteins from HIT. These proteins identified 59 pathways in PANTHER with most proteins being located in the Apoptosis, Angiogenesis, Inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine, Gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor, and/or Interleukin signaling pathways. All four TMs contained compounds that had regulating effects on Apoptosis regulator BAX, Apoptosis regulator Bcl-2, Caspase-3, Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or Prostaglandin G/H synthase 2 (COX2). The main proteins and pathways are primarily related to inflammation, proliferation and angiogenesis which are all processes involved in psoriasis. Experimental studies have reported that certain compounds from these TMs can regulate the expression of proteins involved in each of these pathways.

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Abbreviations

ETCM:

Encyclopedia of traditional Chinese medicines (7 volume book)

HIT:

Herbal Ingredients’ Targets database

KEGG:

Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database

PANTHER:

Protein ANnotation THrough Evolutionary Relationship database

TM:

Traditional medicine

UniProt:

Universal Protein resource database

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge funding support provided by Australian Government for the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), RMIT University for High Degree by Research Publication Grant (HDRPG), Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, China, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China; and The Financial Industry Technology Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province, China that made this research possible. We wish to thank Dr Ray Helliwell for his valuable comments.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. School of Health Sciences, and Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research Program, Health Innovations Research Institute, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia

      Brian H. May, Shiqiang Deng, Anthony L. Zhang & Charlie C. L. Xue

    2. Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China

      Chuanjian Lu & Charlie C. L. Xue

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    Correspondence to Charlie C. L. Xue.

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    B. H. May and S. Deng contributed equally to this study.

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    May, B.H., Deng, S., Zhang, A.L. et al. In silico database screening of potential targets and pathways of compounds contained in plants used for psoriasis vulgaris. Arch Dermatol Res 307, 645–657 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-015-1577-8

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