Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To explore the active components of Curcumae Rhizome as well as its potential value for the treatment of chronic pancreatitis (CP) using a combination of network pharmacology and bioinformatic approaches.
METHODS Network pharmacology methods were used to screen the active ingredients of Curcumae Rhizome and potential therapeutic targets for CP, and their expression abundance and distribution in different cell types of CP were further analyzed in combination with CP tissue RNA sequencing data from publicly available databases. Molecular docking was performed to analyze the binding of the active components of Curcumae Rhizome to CP-related targets. Finally, the role of these core targets in pancreatic stellate cell (PSC) activation and related pathways was analyzed by single-cell RNA-sequencing to assess the anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic potential of the active ingredients of Curcumae Rhizome in CP treatment.
RESULTS The most effective component of Curcumae Rhizome, Hederagenin, was identified by network pharmacological analysis, and its two therapeutic targets associated with CP were identified: LYZ and Rxra. Molecular docking results demonstrated that Hederagenin had an extremely strong binding capacity to the Rxra protein (affinity score = -7.392 kcal ·mol-1), a core target of CP. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis further demonstrated that the hub target Rxra gene was closely associated with PSC activation and played an important role in PTN and TGF-β signaling pathways, the activation of which played a crucial role in the progression of chronic inflammation and fibrosis.
CONCLUSION Curcumae Rhizome may provide new clues for the treatment of CP by inhibiting PSC activation.