Bioinformatics‐based and molecular docking study on the mechanism of action of Galla chinensis in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers

Based on transcriptome sequencing and molecular biology, the active ingredient of Galla chinensis in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers was identified, and its mechanism of action was analyzed.(1) Searching for the main components of the compounds contained in G. chinensis in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and literature research. (2) Prediction of their targets using the PubChem, SwissTargetPrediction, and BATMAN databases. (3) The CTD, Genecards. and NCBI databases were used to mine the transcriptome sequencing data for target genes related to diabetic foot ulcers. (4) Cytoscape 3.7.0 software was used to construct protein/gene interaction network maps for G. chinensis. (5) GO and KEGG analysis was carried out using the DAVID database. (6) Heatmap and volcano map analysis was carried out with R software. (7) The preliminary validation and visualization of molecular docking were performed using AutoDockVina and PyMOL software. After the screening of TCMSP and literature research, we obtained nine active ingredients of G. chinensis, 53 targets for diabetic foot ulcers; 40 biological processes, 30 cell compositions, and 30 molecular functions by GO analysis; and 24 signaling pathways, including the HIF-1 signaling pathway and VEGF signaling pathway. were obtained by KEGG analysis. The molecular docking results showed that the main active ingredients of Galla chinensis had good binding activities with their corresponding target proteins. In this study, G. chinensis was analyzed for its potential value in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers due to its anti-inflammatory and wound-healing effects.