Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Reveal the Mechanism of Corydalis saxicola Bunting Total Alkaloids in Treating Radiation-Induced Oral Mucositis

The study aims to explore the effect and mechanism of total alkaloids of Corydalis saxicola Bunting (CSBTA) in the treatment of radiation induced oral mucositis (RIOM) through network pharmacology and molecular docking. The components and corresponding targets of Corydalis saxicola Bunting were screened by literature review. RIOM related targets were obtained in GeneCards. Cytoscape software was used to construct the component-target-pathway network. Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) networks was constructed by String database. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed by Metascape. AutoDock Vina 4.2 software was used for molecular docking. There were 26 components of CSBTA targeting 61 genes related to RIOM. Through Cytoscape and PPI analysis, 15 core target genes of CSBTA for treating RIOM were identified. GO functional analysis indicated that CSBTA might play a role through kinase binding and protein kinase activation. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the core targets of CSBTA were mainly focused on cancer and reactive oxygen species (ROS) pathway. The results of molecular docking showed that CSBTA had strong binding energy with target protein including SRC, AKT and EGFR. The study demonstrates that CSBTA may treat RIOM by affecting SRC, AKT and EGFR through ROS pathway.