Challenges and Perspectives in Target Identification and Mechanism Illustration for Chinese Medicine

Chin J Integr Med. 2023 Jul;29(7):644-654. doi: 10.1007/s11655-023-3629-9. Epub 2023 Feb 21.

Abstract

Chinese medicine (CM) is an important resource for human life understanding and discovery of drugs. However, due to the unclear pharmacological mechanism caused by unclear target, research and international promotion of many active components have made little progress in the past decades of years. CM is mainly composed of multi-ingredients with multi-targets. The identification of targets of multiple active components and the weight analysis of multiple targets in a specific pathological environment, that is, the determination of the most important target is the main obstacle to the mechanism clarification and thus hinders its internationalization. In this review, the main approach to target identification and network pharmacology were summarized. And BIBm (Bayesian inference modeling), a powerful method for drug target identification and key pathway determination was introduced. We aim to provide a new scientific basis and ideas for the development and international promotion of new drugs based on CM.

Keywords: Bayesian inference modeling; Chinese medicine; network pharmacology; target identification.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bayes Theorem
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal* / pharmacology
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal* / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Medicine, Chinese Traditional*
  • Molecular Docking Simulation

Substances

  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal