Investigation of the Potential Targets and Mechanism Actions of Berberine in the Treatment of Pulpitis Based on Bioinformatics Analysis

Berberine, an active compound extracted from the Chinese herb, was reported to have an antibacterial effect and an anti-inflammatory effect and promote osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells. However, the underlying therapeutic mechanism of berberine in pulpitis is still unknown. Here, bioinformatics analysis was performed to investigate the potential mechanism of berberine against pulpitis. First, we identified the collective targets of berberine and pulpitis from several databases using a Venny online tool. The pattern of interaction between berberine and the targeted protein was visualized by molecular docking. Moreover, we performed GSEA, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses to obtain potential pathways. Cell experiments were performed to validate the bioinformatics analysis results. Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) was identified as the crucial antipulpitis target of berberine via the CytoHubba plugin. Docking analysis indicated that berberine could fit in the binding pocket of the PTGS2 protein. Additionally, berberine exerted its therapeutic effects against pulpitis via multiple pathways. Overall, berberine possessed therapeutic effects against pulpitis through the inactivation of toll-like receptor and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways. The present research proposes a novel approach to explore the therapeutic mechanism of natural products.