Antagonistic Effect of Jiawei Shengjiang San on a Rat Model of Diabetic Nephropathy: Related to EGFR/MAPK3/1 Signaling Pathway

Published: May 10, 2024

doi:

Jingyu Mao*¹, Qin Lu*², Fei Gao, Hao Liu, Jinchuan Tan

¹Graduate School,Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, ²School of Basic Medical Sciences,Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, ³Department of Endocrinology and Nephrology, Renal Research Institute of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,Dongzhimen Hospital Affiliated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, ⁴Hebei Province Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, ⁵Department of Nephrology, First Affiliated Hospital,Hebei University of Chinese Medicine

Summary

Here, we present a protocol describing network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques to explore the mechanism of action of Jiawei Shengjiang San (JWSJS) in treating diabetic nephropathy.

Abstract

We aimed to delve into the mechanisms underpinning Jiawei Shengjiang San’s (JWSJS) action in treating diabetic nephropathy and deploying network pharmacology. Employing network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques, we predicted the active components and targets of JWSJS and constructed a meticulous “drug-component-target” network. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were utilized to discern the therapeutic pathways and targets of JWSJS. Autodock Vina 1.2.0 was deployed for molecular docking verification, and a 100-ns molecular dynamics simulation was conducted to affirm the docking results, followed by in vivo animal verification. The findings revealed that JWSJS shared 227 intersecting targets with diabetic nephropathy, constructing a protein-protein interaction network topology. KEGG enrichment analysis denoted that JWSJS mitigates diabetic nephropathy by modulating lipids and atherosclerosis, the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, apoptosis, and the HIF-1 signaling pathway, with mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), MAPK3, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (AKT1) identified as collective targets of multiple pathways. Molecular docking asserted that the core components of JWSJS (quercetin, palmitoleic acid, and luteolin) could stabilize conformation with three pivotal targets (MAPK1, MAPK3, and EGFR) through hydrogen bonding. In vivo examinations indicated notable augmentation in body weight and reductions in glycated serum protein (GSP), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), uridine triphosphate (UTP), and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels due to JWSJS. Electron microscopy coupled with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining highlighted the potential of each treatment group in alleviating kidney damage to diverse extents, exhibiting varied declines in p-EGFR, p-MAPK3/1, and BAX, and increments in BCL-2 expression in the kidney tissues of the treated rats. Conclusively, these insights suggest that the protective efficacy of JWSJS on diabetic nephropathy might be associated with suppressing the activation of the EGFR/MAPK3/1 signaling pathway and alleviating renal cell apoptosis.

Introduction

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease that affects multiple systems and can cause various complications due to continuous hyperglycemia, such as diabetic nephropathy (DN), retinopathy, and neuropathy¹. DN is a serious complication of DM, accounting for about 30%-50% of end-stage renal disease (ESRD)². Its clinical manifestation is microalbuminuria, which can progress to ESRD characterized by increased glomerular volume, mesangial stromal hyperplasia, and thickened glomerular basement membrane³. The pathogenesis of DN is complex and has not been fully elucidated. Clinical methods such as lowering blood glucose, regulating blood pressure, and reducing proteinuria are mostly used to delay its progress, but the effect is general.

Currently, no specific drug has been found to treat DN⁴. For centuries, however, Chinese herbal medicines have been widely used in treating DM and its complications⁵ and have improved patients’ clinical symptoms and delayed disease progression. Due to the advantages of multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway effects, Chinese herbal medicines are expected to be an innovative drug source for the treatment of DN⁶.

“Shengjiang san” originated from the “Wanbing Huichun” by the Ming Dynasty medical doctor Gong Tingxian. The book “Neifu Xianfang” describes the use of Bombyx Batryticatus, Cicadae Periostracum, Curcumaelongae Rhizoma, and Radix Rhei et Rhizome. Based on this, after adding Hedysarum Multijugum Maxim, Epimrdii Herba, and Smilacis Glabrae Rhixoma, it exerts the function of shengjiang san of increasing lucidity, decreasing turbidity, releasing stagnant “heat,” and harmonizing “qi” and the blood⁷^,⁸. It also increases the effect of strengthening the spleen and tonifying the kidneys. Its efficacy is consistent with the pathogenesis of DN’s “qi” to rise and fall out of order due to deficiency of “vital energy,” excessive dryness and “heat,” and stagnation of “heat” caused by a triple energizer⁷^,⁸.

Previous clinical studies have shown Chinese herbal medicines have been used to treat DM and its complications, and jiawei shengjiang san (JWSJS) has been shown to regulate blood glucose and lipids, reduce proteinuria, and significantly improve the clinical efficacy of patients with early DN⁷. The ability of JWSJS to reduce urinary protein and blood glucose levels in DN rats has been confirmed by previous studies. This probably happens by inhibiting the TXNIP/NLRP3 and RIP1/RIP3/MLKL signaling pathways, reducing podocyte pyroptosis, and preventing necrotic apoptosis in renal tissues of DN rats, thus achieving renal protection⁹. JWSJS can upregulate nephrin and podocin protein expression and reduce podocyte injury in DN rats, thus suggesting that JWSJS has an inhibitory effect on podocyte injury. JWSJS has a certain anti-DN effect with good safety profiles, but there is little research on it, and this work mostly focuses on pyroptosis and necrotic apoptosis. The literature is not sufficiently deep or systematic¹⁰. Our previous findings have confirmed that JWSJS can reduce proteinuria and alleviate kidney damage in DN rats⁷. However, there are only a few studies on the mechanism of JWSJS for DN treatment, and these lack depth and systematization. Thus, this study aims to analyze the molecular substances and mechanisms of action of JWSJS for DN treatment using network pharmacology and provide a solid foundation for future research.

Network pharmacology is an emerging method to study the mechanism of drug action, including cheminformatics, network biology, bioinformatics, and pharmacology¹¹^,¹². Network pharmacology research design is quite similar to the holistic concept of traditional Chinese medicine¹³^,¹⁴, and it is an important method to study the mechanism of Chinese herbal medicines. Molecular docking can study interactions between molecules and predict their binding patterns and affinity. Molecular docking has emerged as a critical technique in the field of computer-aided drug research¹⁵. Therefore, this study constructed a JWSJS-DN-target interaction network through network pharmacology and molecular docking methods that offers a reliable and theoretical basis for further exploration of DN treatment with JWSJS.

Protocol

All animals were maintained and used in accordance with the US National Research Council Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 8th Edition, and were reported as recommended in the ARRIVE guidelines16,17. The study was conducted in accordance with the China National Research Council Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Hebei University of Chinese Medicine (DWLL2019030). <p cl…

Representative Results

Following the protocol, 90 active ingredients of JWSJS were finally obtained from the analysis after screening and deduplication according to the set standards of OB and DL. These included 20 kinds of Hedysarum Multijugum Maxim, 23 kinds of Epimrdii Herba, 15 kinds of Smilacis Glabrae Rhixoma, 16 kinds of Radix Rhei et Rhizome, four kinds of Curcumaelongae Rhizoma, 15 kinds of Cicadae Periostracum, and six kinds of Bombyx Batryticatus components. Because ther…

Discussion

Our study employed a combination of network pharmacology, molecular docking, and in vivo animal models. A critical step was the establishment of the "drug-component-target" network, which was crucial for identifying the potential mechanisms of JWSJS in treating DN, focusing particularly on its interaction with the EGFR/MAPK3/1 signaling pathway.

During this study, we made several modifications, particularly in the molecular docking process, to enhance the accuracy of our predi…

Declarações

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the general project of the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, China (No. H2019423037).

Materials

2×SYBR Green qPCR Master Mix	Servicebio, Wuhan, China	G3320-05
24-h urine protein quantification (UTP)	Nanjing Jiancheng Institute of Biological Engineering	N/A
3,3'-Diaminobenzidine	Shanghai Huzheng Biotech, China	91-95-2
Automatic biochemical analysis instrument	Hitachi, Japan	7170A
Anhydrous Ethanol	Biosharp, Tianjin, China	N/A
BAX Primary antibodies	Affinity, USA	AF0120	Rat
BCL-2 Primary antibodies	Affinity, USA	AF6139	Rat
BX53 microscope	Olympus, Japan	BX53
Chloroform Substitute	ECOTOP, Guangzhou, China	ES-8522
Desmond software	New York, NY, USA	Release 2019-1
Digital Constant Temperature Water Bath	Changzhou Jintan Liangyou Instrument, China	DK-8D
EGFR Primary antibodies	Affinity, USA	AF6043	Rat
Embed-812 RESIN	Shell Chemical, USA	14900
Fasting blood glucose (FBG)	Nanjing Jiancheng Institute of Biological Engineering	N/A
FC-type full-wavelength enzyme label analyser	Multiskan; Thermo, USA	N/A
GAPDH Primary antibodies	Affinity, USA	AF7021	Rat
Glycated serum protein (GSP)	Nanjing Jiancheng Institute of Biological Engineering	N/A
Transmission electron microscope	Hitachi, Japan	H-7650
Haematoxylin/eosin (HE) staining solution	Servicebio, USA	G1003
Image-Pro Plus	MEDIA CYBERNETICS, USA	N/A
Real-Time PCR Amplification Instrument	Applied Biosystems, USA	iQ5
Irbesartan tablets	Hangzhou Sanofi Pharmaceuticals	N/A
Isopropanol	Biosharp, Tianjin, China	N/A
JWSJS granules	Guangdong Yifang Pharmaceutical	N/A
Kodak Image Station 2000 MM imaging system	Kodak, USA	IS2000
Low-density cholesterol (LDL-C)	Nanjing Jiancheng Institute of Biological Engineering	N/A
MAPK3/1Primary antibodies	Affinity, USA	AF0155	Rat
Medical Centrifuge	Hunan Xiangyi Laboratory Instrument Development, China	TGL-16K
Mini trans-blot transfer system	Bio-Rad, USA	N/A
Mini-PROTEAN electrophoresis system	Bio-Rad, USA	N/A
NanoVue Plus Spectrophotometer	Healthcare Bio-Sciences AB, Sweden	111765
p-EGFR Primary antibodies	Affinity, USA	AF3044	Rat
Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining solution	Servicebio, USA	G1008
p-MAPK3/1 Primary antibodies	Affinity, USA	AF1015	Rat
Secondary antibodies	Santa Cruz, USA	sc-2357	Rabbit
Streptozotocin	Sigma, USA	S0130
SureScript First-Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit	GeneCopeia, USA	QP056T
TriQuick Reagent	Solarbio, Beijing, China	R1100
Ultra-Clean Workbench	Suzhou Purification Equipment, China	SW-CJ-1F

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