Construction of Protein–Protein Interaction Networks on Capsicum Against Sepsis by Regulating of Molecular Mechanisms: Bioinformatics Approaches

Abstract

We aimed to create the construction of protein–protein interaction networks for target proteins and to analyze the molecular characteristics of capsicum, screen and identify the potential targets of capsicum against sepsis using bioinformatics approaches. The potential anti-sepsis targets of capsicum were screened by chemical protein interaction analysis and matched with the published anti-sepsis related disease targets in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man database (OMIM) and the Genecards Database to screen out the anti-sepsis targets of capsicum. The potential targets of capsicum against sepsis were further identified by molecular docking server. Capsicum exhibited good medicinal properties. Overall, 14 potential targets were screened and 3453 disease targets were obtained from OMIM and Genecards databases. Subsequently, we found that there were 14 proteins that were both molecular targets and disease targets. The molecular docking server identified that the active ingredient beta-carotene had the ability to bind to 11 targeted proteins, which was a potential target of capsicum against sepsis. Capsicum can exert its therapeutic effects by interacting with key amino acid residues of the targeted proteins. Capsicum can inhibit tissue and organ damage of sepsis by regulating CAV1 and CTNNB1, and reduce inflammatory response of sepsis by regulating MYC, VEGFA, NR3C1 and DUSP1d, and ultimately prevent and treat sepsis.