Network pharmacology based virtual screening of Flavonoids from Dodonea angustifolia and the molecular mechanism against inflammation

Abstract

Inflammation is a nonspecific immune response against injury caused by a harmful agent that strives to restore tissue function and homeostasis. Dodonaea angustifolia L.f. (Sapindaceae) is a medium-sized shrub used to treat a variety of diseases in traditional medicine. In the current study, integrated network-pharmacology and molecular docking approaches were used to identify the active constituents, their possible targets, signaling pathways, and anti-inflammatory effects of flavonoids from D.angustifolia. D. angustifolia active ingredients were acquired from the Indian Medicinal Plants, Phytochemistry and Therapeutics (IMPPAT), and Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology (TCMSP) databases. The screening included the ten most prevalent D. angustifolia components, and the SwissTargetPrediction database was utilized to anticipate the targets of these compounds. Anti-inflammatory genes were found using the GeneCards database. The 175 overlapping genes were discovered as prospective D. angustifolia anti-inflammatory targets. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that the overlapped targets were closely related to the major pathogenic processes linked to inflammation, such as response to organonitrogen compound, protein kinase activity, phosphotransferase activity, pI3k-Akt signaling pathway, metabolic pathways, and chemical carcinogenesis. Compound–target–pathway, and protein–protein interaction networks revealed 6-Methoxykaempferol and 5-Hydroxy-7,8 dimethoxyflavone as key compounds, and AKT1, VEGFA, and EGFR as key targets. Furthermore, molecular docking followed by molecular dynamic (MD) simulation of D. angustifolia active ingredients with core proteins fully complemented the binding affinity of these compounds and indicated stable complexes at the docked site. These findings reveal D. angustifolia 's multi-target, multi-compound, and multi-pathway strategies against inflammation. Our study paved the way for further research into the mechanism for developing D. angustifolia -based natural products as alternative therapies for inflammation.