PUBLICATION
AlphaFold-Based AI Docking Reveals AMPK/SIRT1-TFEB Pathway Modulation by Traditional Chinese Medicine in Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease
- Authors
- Zhang, L., Zheng, Y., Shao, M., Chen, A., Liu, M., Sun, W., Li, T., Fang, Y., Dong, Y., Zhao, S., Luo, H., Feng, J., Wang, Q., Li, L., Zheng, Y.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-250121-26
- Date
- 2025
- Source
- Pharmacological research : 107617107617 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- AMPK/SIRT1-TFEB, AlphaFold, Autophagy, MAFLD, Qiguijiangzhi Formula
- MeSH Terms
-
- AMP-Activated Protein Kinases*/metabolism
- Animals
- Autophagy/drug effects
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors*/metabolism
- Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects
- Drugs, Chinese Herbal*/pharmacology
- Drugs, Chinese Herbal*/therapeutic use
- Fatty Liver/drug therapy
- Fatty Liver/metabolism
- Hep G2 Cells
- Humans
- Lipid Metabolism/drug effects
- Liver/drug effects
- Liver/metabolism
- Male
- Medicine, Chinese Traditional
- Mesocricetus
- Molecular Docking Simulation*
- Signal Transduction/drug effects
- Sirtuin 1*/metabolism
- Zebrafish*
- PubMed
- 39832686 Full text @ Pharmacol. Res.
Citation
Zhang, L., Zheng, Y., Shao, M., Chen, A., Liu, M., Sun, W., Li, T., Fang, Y., Dong, Y., Zhao, S., Luo, H., Feng, J., Wang, Q., Li, L., Zheng, Y. (2025) AlphaFold-Based AI Docking Reveals AMPK/SIRT1-TFEB Pathway Modulation by Traditional Chinese Medicine in Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease. Pharmacological research. :107617107617.
Abstract
Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a chronic, progressive disorder characterized by hepatic steatosis and excessive lipid accumulation. Its high global adult prevalence (approximately 50.7%), however, FDA-approved therapeutic drugs remains lacking. Qigui Jiangzhi Formula (QGJZF) shows promise in treating MAFLD by effectively decreasing lipid levels and improving hepatic steatosis, however its mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated QGJZF's effects in high-fat diet-induced zebrafish and golden hamsters, and in palmitate (PA) and oleic acid (OA) - induced HepG2 cells, using the SymMap database to identify potential targets and pathways of QGJZF in MAFLD and AlphaFold algorithms to predict protein structures. In vivo, QGJZF significantly alleviatied hepatic lipid deposition. Intriguingly, QGJZF decreased lipid droplets and its levels are negative correlation with the numbers of autolysosomes, indicating that QGJZF's mechanism of meliorating liver lipid deposition may be relate to the regulation of autophagy. QGJZF upregulated the expressions of phosphorylated -Adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) - activated protein kinase (p-AMPK), Sirtuin deacetylase 1 (SIRT1) and Transcription factor EB (TFEB), accompanied by the changes in autophagy-related proteins. In vitro, QGJZF inhibited the lipid deposition in, and its effect was blocked by Baf-A1, which was mediated through upregulation of TFEB and its mediated autophagy-lysosomal pathway. Moreover, cotreatment with AMPK inhibitor Compound C, the regulation of QGJZF on TFEB, SIRT1, autophagy-related protein levels, and lipid deposition were reversed. Network pharmacology identified the PRKAA2 (AMPK) and SIRT1 as key hub targets. Futher analysis of their structures using AlphaFold3 algorithms, yielded high-ranking scores of 0.97 and 0.93, respectively. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry combined with molecular docking expounded its five compounds in QGJZF binding to AMPK protein. These findings suggest that QGJZF as a therapeutic agent in augmenting autophagy-facilitated lipid clearance for the management of MAFLD via AMPK/SIRT1-TFEB axis.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping