Network based deciphering of the mechanism of TCM

Abstract

Currently, there has been increased global interest in traditional herbal medicines because of the emerging systematic "multi-target" drug design strategy. The herbal ingredients, their corresponding protein targets, the biological processes its targets participate in, as well as the drug-target interactions and target-target interactions are necessary to understand the molecular mechanism of TCMs. Varieties of relevant databases have been set up. Additionally, the massive amounts of data produced by '-omics' technologies has also provided considerable support for the exploration of TCM mechanism. They would be more useful for depicting a global picture of the underlying mechanism of TCM, as network-based multi- Targets drug design methodologies could integrate relevant information across different platforms. In this chapter, taking the study of herbal medicines against Alzheimer's Disease (AD) as an example, the value of the network-based integration of different data sources for TCM is exemplifi ed by the study for clinically tested anti-AD herbs. Network-based integration of the various databases and '-omics' data are discussed, which will not only facilitate the holistic understanding of the disease pathogenesis, but also suggest new clues for the usage of TCMs in future drug discovery.