Network Pharmacological Screening of Herbal Monomers that Regulate Apoptosis-Associated Genes in Acute Pancreatitis.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we screened for differentially expressed genes in acute pancreatitis and the herbal monomers that regulate these genes. METHODS: Gene expression profile data were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GSE3644). We used the Human Protein Reference Database to determine the protein-protein interaction network and CFinder software (Department of Biological Physics of Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary) to identify several functional modules. Then, we used Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery software (Frederick, Md) to perform a gene ontology-biological process functional enrichment analysis. Based on a database of herbal monomers and a literature search, we constructed a gene-herbal monomer regulatory network using Cytoscape software (San Diego, Calif), and we analyzed the relationships between apoptosis, genes, and herbal monomers. RESULTS: A total of 1745 differentially expressed genes were identified. Nine modules were identified, and the main function of module 3 was closely related to apoptosis. Within module 3, we selected 13 genes that were closely related to apoptosis for further analysis. In the gene-herbal monomer regulatory network, 18 herbal monomers that regulate multiple target genes were selected as the focus of this study. CONCLUSIONS: These herbal monomers regulate multiple target genes to induce apoptosis and may potentially be used as new drugs for acute pancreatitis treatment in the future.