Background: Herbal medicine Sanqi (SQ), the dried root or stem of Panax notoginseng (PNS), has been reported to have anti-diabetic and anti-obesity effects and is usually administered as a decoction for Chinese medicine. Alternative to utilizing PNS pure compound for treatment, we are motivated to propose an unconventional scheme to investigate the functions of PNS mixture. However, studies providing a detailed overview of the transcriptomics-based signaling network in response to PNS are seldom available.
Methods: To explore the reasoning of PNS in treating metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, we implemented a systems biology-based approach with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and miRNA sequencing data to elucidate key pathways, genes and miRNAs involved.
Results: Functional enrichment analysis revealed PNS up-regulating oxidative stress-related pathways and down-regulating insulin and fatty acid metabolism. Superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), peroxiredoxin 1 (PRDX1), heme oxygenase-1 (Hmox1) and glutamate cysteine ligase (GCLc) mRNA and protein levels, as well as related miRNA levels, were measured in PNS treated rat pancreatic β cells (INS-1). PNS treatment up-regulated Hmox1, SOD1 and GCLc expression while down-regulating miR-24-3p and miR-139-5p to suppress oxidative stress. Furthermore, we verified the novel interactions between miR-139-5p and miR-24-3p with GCLc and SOD1.
Conclusion: This work has demonstrated the mechanism of how PNS regulates cellular molecules in metabolic disorders. Therefore, combining omics data with a systems biology strategy could be a practical means to explore the potential function and molecular mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of metabolic disorders.
Keywords: Anti-oxidant; Metabolic disorder; MicroRNA; Panax notoginseng (PNS or Sanqi); Systems biology.
© 2023. The Author(s).