Revealing the therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms of emodin-treated coronavirus disease 2019 via a systematic study of network pharmacology

Abstract

Emodin has shown pharmacological effects in the treatment of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, which leads to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Thus, we speculated that emodin may possess anti-COVID-19 activity. In this study, using bioinformatics databases, we screened and harvested the candidate genes or targets of emodin and COVID-19 prior to the determination of pharmacological targets and molecular mechanisms of emodin against COVID-19. We discovered core targets for the treatment of COVID-19, including mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), tumor protein (TP53), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), caspase-3 (CASP3), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), interleukin 1B (IL1B), mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 (MAPK14), prostaglandinendoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), B-cell lymphoma-2-like protein 1 (BCL2L1), interleukin-8 (CXCL8), myeloid cell leukemia-1 (MCL1), and colony stimulating factor 2 (CSF2). The GO analysis of emodin against COVID-19 mainly included cytokine-mediated signaling pathway, response to lipopolysaccharide, response to molecule of bacterial origin, developmental process involved in reproduction, and reproductive structure development. The KEGG results exhibited that the molecular pathways mainly included IL-17 signaling pathway, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, TNF signaling pathway, pertussis, proteoglycans in cancer, pathways in cancer, MAPK signaling pathway, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, NF-kappa B signaling pathway, etc. Also, molecular docking results revealed the docking capability between emodin and COVID-19 and the potential pharmacological activity of emodin against COVID-19. Taken together, these findings uncovered the targets and pharmacological mechanisms of emodin for treating COVID-19 and suggested that the vital targets might be used as biomarkers against COVID-19.

Computational studies of potential antiviral compounds from some selected Nigerian medicinal plants against SARS-CoV-2 proteins

“…5 ). Researchers [ 69 ] have proposed emodin as MTDL of anti-COVID-19 capable of interacting with several pathways, including ACE2 and 3CLpro.

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Methodology of network pharmacology for research on Chinese herbal medicine against COVID-19: A review

“…Quercetin, luteolin, acacetin and kaempferol were screened as anti-COVID-19 candidates. Other CHM ingredients such as berberine [109] , emodin [110] , astragaloside IV [111] , matrine [112] , puerarin [113] , glycyrrhizic acid [114] , hesperidin, isorhapontigenin and gallocatechin-7-gallate [115] were also repurposed as therapeutic candidates against COVID-19 based on network pharmacology analysis ( Fig. 3 ), and some typical compounds (berberine, emodin and glycyrrhizic acid, etc.)…”

The Potential of Dietary Bioactive Compounds against SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction

“…Emodin, aloe-emodin and rhein are pleiotropic molecules that interact with and inhibit several biomarkers of endothelial function [ 130 ]. Emodin was reported to have potential to treat COVID-19 through its ability to act on a wide range of disease targets including BCL2L1, PTGS2, TP53, CASP3, CXCL8, EGFR, CSF2, MAPK14, FNT, VEGFA, MCL1, MAPK1, and 1L1B [ 132 ].…”