Mechanism of icariin in delaying skin photoaging based on network pharmacology and experimental verification

Finally, cell experiments were conducted to validate the key targets. Network pharmacology analysis identified 123 potential targets related to skin photoaging, with 10 key core targets, including B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) and cysteinyl aspartate specific protease-3 (Caspase-3). GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that these targets are mainly involved in signaling pathways such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT).

Molecular docking results indicated that ICA has strong binding activity with BCL-2 and Caspase-3. Cell experimental results demonstrated that ICA significantly inhibits the aging and apoptosis of HaCaT cells. Moreover, compared with the ultraviolet B (UVB) group, in the ICA group, the protein expression levels of BCL-2-associated X protein (BAX) and Cleaved Caspase-3 were decreased, while the protein expression levels of phosphorylated PI3K (p-PI3K), phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT), and BCL-2 were significantly increased.

In summary, ICA delays skin photoaging by regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to inhibit cell apoptosis.