{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,27]],"date-time":"2025-08-27T00:10:37Z","timestamp":1756253437578,"version":"3.44.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,26]],"date-time":"2025-08-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756166400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Bioinform."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a prevalent condition with limited effective treatments, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies. Bioinformatics offers a promising approach to identify new targets by analyzing gene expression and drug interactions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study aims to identify novel therapeutic targets for NAFLD through bioinformatics, focusing on drug repositioning and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) components.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Three NAFLD-related gene expression datasets (GSE260666, GSE126848, GSE135251) were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes. Protein-protein interaction networks were constructed using STRING and visualized with Cytoscape. Pathway enrichment analysis was performed, and drug-gene interactions were explored using the DGIdb database. TCM components were screened via the HERB database, with molecular docking conducted to assess binding affinities.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Key hub genes (CXCL2, CDKN1A, TNFRSF12A, HGFAC) were identified, with significant enrichment in cell proliferation and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. Cyclosporine emerged as a potential repurposed drug, while TCM components (curcumin, resveratrol, berberine) showed strong binding affinities to NAFLD targets.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Cyclosporine and TCM compounds are promising candidates for NAFLD treatment, warranting further experimental validation to confirm their therapeutic potential.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fbinf.2025.1613985","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,26]],"date-time":"2025-08-26T08:53:48Z","timestamp":1756198428000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Identifying novel therapeutic targets for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease using bioinformatics approaches: from drug repositioning to traditional Chinese medicine"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Jingmin","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Tianwei","family":"Meng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Weiqi","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Xinghua","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Juan","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"D1227","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkad1040","article-title":"DGIdb 5.0: rebuilding the drug-gene interaction database for precision medicine and drug discovery platforms","volume":"52","author":"Cannon","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2000105","DOI":"10.1002\/mnfr.202000105","article-title":"Resveratrol alleviates endoplasmic reticulum stress-associated hepatic steatosis and injury in mice challenged with tunicamycin","volume":"64","author":"Chen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Mol. 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