Bioinformatics analyses on molecular pathways and pharmacological properties of Glabridin

Abstract

Glabridin, a bioactive compound that originally isolated from the roots of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Fam. Fabaceae), has a wide range of pharmacological properties for instance anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-osteoporosis, anti-diabetic, anti-atherogenic, neuroprotective, estrogenic, and skin-whitening. Even though, biological activities and pharmacological properties of glabridin have already been determined, molecular signaling pathways, gene targets, and pharmacological properties based on bioinformatics analyses have not been fully elucidated. Thus, in the presented research, network-based bioinformatics approaches were applied to demonstrate targets of glabridin in human genomes and proteomes. The glabridin was input into the ChEBI database, and the targets of its were predicted using DIGEP-Pred, and then, top interacting genes were identified by GeneCards database. Afterward, STRING and KEGG enrichment database were used to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and molecular targeting pathway network, respectively. A total of 14 genes coding proteins such as UGT1A1, MAPK1, CYP2B6, MMP9, CHKA, CYP3A4, EGFR, PON1, SLC6A4, SRC, EPHX2, TYR, PTK2, and PPIG effected by glabridin were determined by gene set enrichment analysis. Furthermore, multiple pathways including endocrine resistance, bladder cancer, ErbB signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, chemical carcinogenesis, proteoglycans in cancer, relaxin signaling pathway, and estrogen signaling pathway were also identified to be regulated by glabridin. This research showed that glabridin exhibits highly active pharmacological activity as an anti-infective agent, chemopreventive agent, membrane permeability inhibitor, melanin inhibitor, and apoptosis agonist. Taken together, this study is network-based scientific research that will be very useful in elucidating the biological, molecular and pharmacological properties of glabridin for clinical applications in detail.