Implementation of Omics Approaches in Unravelling the Potency of Cordyceps militaris in Drug Discovery

Abstract:: Natural products have long garnered the interest of scientific communities as they have proven to be an effective therapeutic resource that paved the path for medicinal research and drug development. Among them, Cordyceps militaris is an entomopathogenic caterpillar fungus with a renowned history of being utilized as a medicinal remedy for centuries in Eastern civilizations. The number of pharmacological functions reported by this specific fungus resulted in continuous efforts to unravel new effective bioactive compounds and their corresponding mechanism of action. As time progresses, computational techniques become the forefront of genomic and proteomic analysis, besides acting as a platform for integrating various up-to-date multidisciplinary data sources. This review briefly introduces Cordyceps militaris alongside the latest known biologically active compounds and their respective therapeutic potential. The need to implement computational applications to cope with the continuous phytochemical evolution of Cordyceps militaris will be illustrated. Moreover, many databases, mathematical algorithms, or sourcing tools that could benefit data visualization, dissemination, and interpretation aligned to fungal-based research are enumerated, in addition to describing some of the broad discoveries relative to Cordyceps militaris in the past. In conclusion, using advanced computational technology may be the foundation to leverage natural product discovery about Cordyceps militaris and contribute to future mass production of this fungus for commercial purposes in the world pharmaceutical industry.