Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40078278›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in pharmacology2025

Emodin mitigates rheumatoid arthritis through direct binding to TNF-α.

Dingyan Lu, Xudong Tian, Taotao Cao, Shuaishuai Chen, Chunhua Liu, Lin Zheng, Meng Zhou, Xiaoyan Peng, Yongjun Li, Ting Liu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Dingyan Lu *State Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Xudong Tian *State Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Taotao Cao *State Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Shuaishuai ChenState Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Chunhua LiuState Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Lin ZhengState Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Meng ZhouState Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Xiaoyan PengSchool of Biology and Engineering (School of Modern Industry for Health and Medicine), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Yongjun LiState Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Ting LiuState Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Engineering Research Center for the Development and Application of Ethnic Medicine and TCM (Ministry of Education), Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Emodin has shown certain anti-rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity in preliminary studies. However, the precise mechanisms of emodin's anti-RA effects, particularly its direct targets, remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-RA activity of emodin and elucidate its potential mechanisms, with a specific focus on identifying its molecular targets. Employing a collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rat model, along with transcriptomic analysis, thermal proteome profiling (TPP) and TNF-α-induced L929 cell model, the anti-RA activity of emodin was confirmed, identifying TNF-α as a potential target. Techniques such as drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS), cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), Affinity ultrafiltration-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (AUF-LC/MS), surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and bio-layer interferometry (BLI) validated the direct binding of emodin to TNF-α. Molecular dynamics simulation, ELISA and BLI further revealed that emodin stabilizes the asymmetric trimeric structure of TNF-α, disrupting the TNF-α-TNFR1 interaction.

Indexed as

emodinNF-κB pathway inhibitionrheumatoid arthritisTNF-α bindingTNF-α-TNFR1 interaction

Identifiers

PMID40078278
PMCPMC11896996

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.