Network pharmacology reveals the therapeutic mechanism of Rubus Idaeus against ESR1 gene responsible for epilepsy

Chioma Jahvnavi, Niharika Jaiswal, Prekshi Garg, Prachi Srivastava*

Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Refer this article

Chioma Jahvnavi, Niharika Jaiswal, Prekshi Garg, Prachi Srivastava, 2026. Network pharmacology reveals the therapeutic mechanism of Rubus Idaeus against ESR1 gene responsible for epilepsy. Journal of medical pharmaceutical and allied sciences, V 15, I 2, Pages 14 – 21. Doi: https://doi.org/10.55522/jmpas.V15I2.6987.

ABSTRACT

In this research work, an effort has been made to find the potential synergy of Rubus idaeus for the management of epilepsy through the application of a combination of network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. The active phytochemicals of Rubus idaeus were searched for with the help of the 'IMPPAT 2.0 and Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical & Ethnobotanical Databases'. Similarly, the 'Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD)' was used for generating the molecular targets of the aforementioned phytochemicals of Rubus idaeus, while the 'GeneCards & MalaCards Databases' were used to obtain the genes responsible for the progression of epilepsy. Using the concept of the 'Venn Diagram Approach,' the common genes among Rubus idaeus and genes for epilepsy were obtained, and they represent the potential target genes for the management of the given disease condition. Finally, the interaction of compounds & targets & disease could be generated with the 'Cytoscape Software & CytoHubba,' while the 'STRING Database' was used to obtain the 'PPI-Network'. And the 'functional enrichment,' 'Gene Ontology,' & 'DisGeNET Pathways Analysis,' respectively, were obtained with the help of the 'Metascape Web Server'. A total of 16 active compounds in Rubus idaeus were discovered, and these targeted 6,744 gene targets. At the same time, a total of 6,251 genes associated with epilepsy were obtained, and their intersection yielded important target genes with the potential of mediating the anti-epileptic properties of Rubus idaeus. These target genes included a major hub gene, estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1), whose importance for the regulation of genes associated with epilepsy was very clear. The molecular docking study also revealed the high binding affinity between alpha carotene and ESR1. In general, a combined analysis of network pharmacology and molecular docking reveals that Rubus idaeus acts on multi-target and multi-pathway to exert anti-epileptic activities, which indicates its potential in the management of epilepsy.

Keywords:

Network pharmacology, Rubus idaeus, Epilepsy, Molecular docking, ESR1.

Full Text Article