Potential targets and the action mechanism of food-derived dipeptides on colitis: network pharmacology and bioinformatics analysis

Abstract

Food-derived peptides can ameliorate colitis but their pharmaceutical targets and action mechanism of ameliorating colitis remain unclear. Here, we aim to investigate the action mechanism of food-derived peptides ameliorating colitis based on the network pharmacology and bioinformatics analysis. 400 dipeptides were used to screen the core targets based on the PharmMapper and GeneCards database. A total of 49 core targets were screened to construct the predicted target set. The target set was then evaluated using the STRING software to construct the protein–protein and protein-dipeptide network. Furthermore, the DAVID software was used to analyze the GO (gene ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways of the core targets. The results of bioinformatics assays showed that the 49 targets mainly participated in the inflammatory and immunomodulatory signaling pathways, particularly in the inflammatory bowel disease-related signaling pathways IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 and TLR4-NF-κB/MAPK. In addition, molecular docking results confirmed that 25 dipeptides mainly interacted with the core targets (ALB, JAK2, and STAT3) by hydrogen-bonding interactions. This study can provide evidence for the potential efficacy and action pathways of food-derived peptides on colitis.