Study on the therapeutic mechanism of chrysin on pulmonary hypertension by Network pharmacology and molecular docking
OBJECTIVE To study the therapeutic efficacy and underlying mechanism of chrysin in the prevention and treatment of pulmonary hypertension(PH)through a merged approach of Network pharmacology and experimental validation.METHODS The PubChem database was utilized to identify the molecular targets of chrysin,while the DisGeNET and GeneCards databases were employed to select relevant PH targets.The STRING platform was employed to construct a protein-protein interaction network.Functional and pathway enrichment analyses were conducted using the DAVID and Metascape databases for Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways,respectively.Molecular docking was conducted using AutoDock software.A hypoxia-induced PH model was established to evaluate the effects of chrysin on PH,focusing on hemodynamics,pulmonary vascular remodeling,and collagen deposition in the lung tissues.Furthermore,the effects of chrysin on key target protein expression were confirmed through Western blot experiments.RESULTS SRC,ESR1,EGFR,PTGS2,and MMP9 were the pivotal targets of chrysin in PH treatment.The preferential binding affinity of chrysin to these critical proteins.Chrysin demonstrated notable efficacy in ameliorating hemodynamic abnormalities,reducing small pulmonary artery remodeling and collagen accumulation in the lungs,and showed modulatory effects on the expression levels of SRC,ESR1,EGFR,PTGS2,and MMP9 in PH conditions.CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that chrysin exerts its therapeutic effects against PH through a"multi-target,multi-pathway"mechanism.Chrysin primarily interacts with key proteins including MMP9,EGFR,and ESR1.