Network medicine framework identified drug-repurposing opportunities of pharmaco-active compounds of Angelica acutiloba (Siebold & Zucc.) Kitag. for skin aging

Increasing incidence of skin aging has highlighted the importance of identifying effective drugs with repurposed opportunities for skin aging. We aimed to identify pharmaco-active compounds with drug-repurposing opportunities for skin aging from Angelica acutiloba (Siebold & Zucc.) Kitag. (AAK). The proximity of network medicine framework (NMF) firstly identified 8 key AAK compounds with repurposed opportunities for skin aging, which may exert by regulating 29 differentially expressed genes (DGEs) of skin aging, including 13 up-regulated targets and 16 down-regulated targets. Connectivity MAP (cMAP) analysis revealed 8 key compounds were involved in regulating the process of cell proliferation and apoptosis, mitochondrial energy metabolism and oxidative stress of skin aging. Molecular docking analysis showed that 8 key compounds had a high docked ability with AR, BCHE, HPGD and PI3, which were identified as specific biomarker for the diagnosis of skin aging. Finally, the mechanisms of these key compounds were predicted to be involved in inhibiting autophagy pathway and activating Phospholipase D signaling pathway. In conclusion, this study firstly elucidated the drug-repurposing opportunities of AAK compounds for skin aging, providing a theoretical reference for identifying repurposing drugs from Chinese medicine and new insights for our future research.