Baicalein inhibits neuroinflammation via NOX2/STAT1/NF-κB pathway in LPS-induced BV-2 cells based on bioinformatics methods

This study identified the exact molecular mechanisms of baicalein on neuroinflammation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV-2 cells. Bioinformatics methods and molecular docking were integrated for predicting the potential targets and mechanisms of baicalein. Immunofluorescence staining and Western blot were used to analyze the predicted key targets inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), the expression level of protein related to signal transducer and activator of transcription 1/nuclear factor kappa-B (STAT1/NF-‍κB) signaling pathway and its upstream regulator NADPH oxidase-2 (NOX2), and then the mechanism of baicalein in alleviating neuroinflammation was explored. The results showed that iNOS and COX-2 were predicted as the key targets and NF-κB signaling pathway was one of the important pathways by bioinformatics methods and molecular docking. Experimental verification showed that baicalein could significantly reduce the expression of iNOS and COX-2, inhibit the phosphorylation of NF-κB and STAT1 and the production of NOX2 in LPS-induced BV-2 cells. To sum up, baicalein could effectively inhibit the inflammatory reaction in LPS-induced BV-2 cells through regulating NOX2 (gp91^phox/p47^phox)/STAT1/NF-κB pathway.