A Promising Target of Langchuangding Prescription Treating Systemic Lupus Erythaematosus Integrated Network Pharmacology with HPLC-MS and Molecular Docking

Abstract

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disorder affecting almost any organ system without effective treatment. Based on accumulating evidence, activated T cells are key cause promoting the pathogenesis of SLE. A traditional clinic Langchuangding formula (LCD) is an effective clinical traditional Chinese medicine prescription for SLE with few side effects and good patient compliance. However, the mechanism of how LCD affects SLE remains unclear.

Methods: Targets related to LCD and SLE were predicted and overlapped to construct protein-protein interaction (PPI) for screening core target. Subsequently, flow cytometry analysis and Western-blot method were used to verify the expression levels of target gene in LCD serum treated-Jurkat T cells. The main compounds of LCD were identified by HPLC-MS and further docked with the core targe.

Results: 283 protein targets in LCD, 1498 SLE targets and 150 common targets were obtained to construct protein-protein interaction (PPI). Network pharmacology results suggested that LCD was closely related to CASP3 target. To verify the prediction of pharmacological mechanism of LCD treatment for SLE, we investigated the anti-proliferative effects of LCD-treated rat serum on β-oestradiol (300 pg/mL)-activated Jurkat T cells in vitro using a CCK-8 kit and flow cytometry analysis and then analyzed the CASP3 expression levels. Vitro experiments confirmed that LCD serum could suppress the proliferation (p < 0.05) and induce apoptosis of the activated T cells through up-regulating CASP3 expression levels. Interactions between CASP3 target and LCD were further validated integrating HPLC-MS analysis and molecular docking.

Conclusions: The results showed that LCD could relieve SLE, which might be attributed to inducing the activated T cells apoptosis by up-regulating CASP3 expression levels. The network pharmacology and molecular docking approach provide a new insight for deepening understanding about TCM. LCD potentially represents a promising therapeutic prescription for SLE supplement treatment with no adverse effects.

Keywords: HPLC-MS; Langchuangding prescription; T cell apoptosis; network pharmacology; systemic lupus erythaematosus; target.