Network Pharmacology Combined with Experimental Validation to Investigate the Effects and Mechanisms of Aucubin on Aging-Related Muscle Atrophy

Abstract

Aucubin (AU) is one of the main components of the traditional Chinese medicine Eucommia ulmoides Oliv (EU). This study investigated the effects of AU on aging-related skeletal muscle atrophy in vitro and in vivo. The results of network pharmacology revealed the potential therapeutic effects of AU on muscle atrophy. In vitro, AU effectively attenuated D-gal-induced cellular damage, reduced the number of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal)-positive cells, down-regulated the expression levels of muscle atrophy-related proteins Atrogin-1 and MuRF1, and improved myotube differentiation, thereby mitigating myotube atrophy. Notably, AU was found to attenuate oxidative stress and apoptosis in skeletal muscle cells by reducing ROS production, regulating Cleaved caspase3 and BAX/Bcl-2 expression in apoptotic pathways, and enhancing Sirt1 and PGC-1α signaling pathways. In vivo studies demonstrated that AU treatment extended the average lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), increased locomotor activity, improved body wall muscle mitochondrial content, and alleviated oxidative damage in C. elegans. These findings suggested that AU can ameliorate aging-related muscle atrophy and show significant potential in preventing and treating muscle atrophy.