Network pharmacology and molecular docking to explore the potential mechanism of Codonopsis pilosula delaying aging

Codonopsis pilosula (CP), a traditional Chinese medicine, holds considerable potential in antioxidant and antiaging properties, however, the antiaging mechanism of its active components have been scarcely documented.

Network pharmacology was employed to predict the active components of CP and elucidate its underlying antiaging mechanisms. Active components of CP were retrieved from traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology, followed by screening targets from GeneCards. Protein-protein interaction networks were constructed using String and analyzed with Cytoscape. Pathway enrichment was done using gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes. Finally, molecular docking of active compounds with core targets was performed using Autodock and PyMOL.

Our study identified 21 active components of CP targeting 433 targets, and 2906 aging-related targets. By overlapping, 232 key targets emerged, including 14 core antiaging targets. CP regulated aging through targets such as AKT1, TNF, and SRC, as well as pathways including lipid metabolism, cancer progression, and estrogen signaling, and so on. Molecular docking demonstrated that both luteolin and 7-(β-xylosyl) cephalomannine_qt exhibited strong binding affinity to these key targets.

In short, network pharmacology analyses screened active components of CP, predicted antiaging targets and pathways, thereby establishing a basis for subsequent product development and mechanistic research.