Preliminary exploration of the mechanism of compound Qinlan oral liquid against new coronavirus pneumonia based on network pharmacology and molecular docking technology

Objective:Applying Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)network pharmacology and molecular docking technology to explore the mechanism of anti-coronary virus pneumonia(Corona Virus Disease 2019,COVID-19)of Compound Qinlan oral liquid.Methods:Traditional Chinese Medicines Integrated Database(TCMID),Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology(TCMSP),OMIM,GeneCards,String and others online databases were used for building a series of networks,and selecting the core targets and analyzing the signal pathways.Finally,Discovery Studio 2016 software was used to conduct molecular docking of the main compounds(Chinese Medicine Legal Quality Control Compound)of Compound Qinlan oral liquid with key targets ACE2,3CLpro,etc.Results:the results showed that Compound Qinlan oral liquid has specific effects in lung,heart and stomach diseases.The Compound Qinlan oral liquid compound-pneumonia target network contained 98 compounds and 184 corresponding targets,and the core targets involved INS,TP53,IL6,VEGFA,ALB and JUN.GO(GeneOntology)function enrichment analysis yielded 653 GO entries,and KEGG(KyotoEncyclopedia of Genes and Genomes)enrichment screening yielded 112 related pathways,including hypoxia inducible factor-1(HIF-1)and Toll-like receptor(TLRs)signaling pathway related to pneumonia,as well as Influenza A signaling pathway and Hepatitis B signaling pathway related to microbial infection.The results of molecular docking show that Isochlorogenic acid C,Baicalein,etc have good binding capacity with ACE2,3CLpro,AKT1 and other proteins.Conclusion:In this paper,we preliminarily explored the potential therapeutic mechanism for Compound Qinlan oral liquid to against coronavirus pneumonia(COVID-19)and predicted the active ingredients.We hope that the results will help to further study on the active ingredients and mechanism of Compound Qinlan oral liquid for anti-COVID-19.

Curcumin inhibits hepatitis B virus infection by downregulating ccc DNA-bound histone acetylation

AIM To investigate the potential effect of curcumin on hepatitis B virus(HBV) covalently closed circular DNA(ccc DNA) and the underlying mechanism.METHODS A Hep G2.2.15 cell line stably transfected with HBV was treated with curcumin, and HBV surface antigen(HBs Ag) and e antigen(HBe Ag) expression levels were assessed by ELISA. Intracellular HBV DNA replication intermediates and ccc DNA were detected by Southern blot and real-time PCR, respectively. The acetylation levels of histones H3 and H4 were measured by Western blot. H3/H4-bound ccc DNA was detected by chromatin immunoprecipitation(Ch IP) assays. The deacetylase inhibitors trichostatin A and sodium butyrate were used to study the mechanism of action for curcumin. Additionally, short interfering RNAs(si RNAs) targeting HBV were tested along with curcumin.RESULTS Curcumin treatment led to time-and dose-dependent reductions in HBs Ag and HBe Ag expression and significant reductions in intracellular HBV DNA replication intermediates and HBV ccc DNA. After treatment with 20 μmol/L curcumin for 2 d, HBs Ag and ccc DNA levels in Hep G2.2.15 cells were reduced by up to 57.7%(P < 0.01) and 75.5%(P < 0.01), respectively, compared with levels in non-treated cells. Meanwhile, time-and dose-dependent reductions in the histone H3 acetylation levels were also detected upon treatment with curcumin, accompanied by reductions in H3-and H4-bound ccc DNA. Furthermore, the deacetylase inhibitors trichostatin A and sodium butyrate could block the effects of curcumin. Additionally, transfection of si RNAs targeting HBV enhanced the inhibitory effects of curcumin.CONCLUSION Curcumin inhibits HBV gene replication via downregulation of ccc DNA-bound histone acetylation and has the potential to be developed as a ccc DNA-targeting antiviral agent for hepatitis B.