ArticlePloS one2011
Discovery of molecular mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicinal formula Si-Wu-Tang using gene expression microarray and connectivity map.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
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Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 137 citations in OpenAlex.
- Discovering the Molecular Secrets of Traditional Chinese Medicine: An Interpretation of Herbal Therapeutics Using Systems Biology.International journal of general medicine · 2026Review
- Butylphthalide identified via Samul-tang-induced transcriptomic signatures improves oocyte quality in aged mice.npj aging · 2025Article
- Pharmacogenomic Analysis of Combined Therapies against Glioblastoma Based on Cell Markers from Single-Cell Sequencing.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Review
- Integration of the Connectivity Map and Pathway Analysis to Predict Plant Extract's Medicinal Properties-The Study Case ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- Effects of the Phytochemical Combination PB123 on Nrf2 Activation, Gene Expression, and the Cholesterol Pathway in HepG2 Cells.OBM integrative and complimentary medicine · 2022Article
- A Review of CurrentFrontiers in oncology · 2021Review
- The Advantages of Connectivity Map Applied in Traditional Chinese Medicine.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Review
- Identifying key genes and drug screening for preeclampsia based on gene expression profiles.Oncology letters · 2020Article
- Rapid bioluminescence assay for monitoring rat CES1 activity and its alteration by traditional Chinese medicines.Journal of pharmaceutical analysis · 2020Article
- Microarray analysis of genes from animals treated with a traditional formulationJournal of traditional and complementary medicine · 2020Article
- Si-Wu-Tang Alleviates Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease via Blocking TLR4-JNK and Caspase-8-GSDMD Signaling Pathways.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Article
- Study on the Antibreast Cancer Mechanism and Bioactive Components ofEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Article
- Systematic Pharmacological Methodology to Explore the Pharmacological Mechanism of Siwu Decoction for Osteoporosis.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2019Article
- Estrogenic Activity of Coffee Constituents.Nutrients · 2019Review
- Phytochemical Combination PB125 Activates the Nrf2 Pathway and Induces Cellular Protection against Oxidative Injury.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Elucidation of the Effects of Si-Wu Tang on Menstrual Disorder Patterns through Activation of Aromatase and Antioxidation.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019Article
- Antrodia cinnamomea induces autophagic cell death via the CHOP/TRB3/Akt/mTOR pathway in colorectal cancer cells.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- A review of connectivity map and computational approaches in pharmacogenomics.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2018Review
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To pursue a systematic approach to discovery of mechanisms of action of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), we used microarrays, bioinformatics and the "Connectivity Map" (CMAP) to examine TCM-induced changes in gene expression. We demonstrated that this approach can be used to elucidate new molecular targets using a model TCM herbal formula Si-Wu-Tang (SWT) which is widely used for women's health. The human breast cancer MCF-7 cells treated with 0.1 µM estradiol or 2.56 mg/ml of SWT showed dramatic gene expression changes, while no significant change was detected for ferulic acid, a known bioactive compound of SWT. Pathway analysis using differentially expressed genes related to the treatment effect identified that expression of genes in the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) cytoprotective pathway was most significantly affected by SWT, but not by estradiol or ferulic acid. The Nrf2-regulated genes HMOX1, GCLC, GCLM, SLC7A11 and NQO1 were upregulated by SWT in a dose-dependent manner, which was validated by real-time RT-PCR. Consistently, treatment with SWT and its four herbal ingredients resulted in an increased antioxidant response element (ARE)-luciferase reporter activity in MCF-7 and HEK293 cells. Furthermore, the gene expression profile of differentially expressed genes related to SWT treatment was used to compare with those of 1,309 compounds in the CMAP database. The CMAP profiles of estradiol-treated MCF-7 cells showed an excellent match with SWT treatment, consistent with SWT's widely claimed use for women's diseases and indicating a phytoestrogenic effect. The CMAP profiles of chemopreventive agents withaferin A and resveratrol also showed high similarity to the profiles of SWT. This study identified SWT as an Nrf2 activator and phytoestrogen, suggesting its use as a nontoxic chemopreventive agent, and demonstrated the feasibility of combining microarray gene expression profiling with CMAP mining to discover mechanisms of actions and to identify new health benefits of TCMs.
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