Abstract

The pathways of signaling molecules are important to understanding how signaling molecules regulate physiological function and also in predicting the pathological development which is important to therapeutic strategy, however the thorough knowledge of these pathways is still lack. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) used Yang and Yin to describe the physiological processes in human body, but its scientific basis is unknown. Here we establish the direct mapping between Yang-Yin and signaling molecules. According to “Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” (YEIC), the fundamental doctrinal source for TCM, there are five groups of Yang and Yin, each has particular physiological functions and the different groups have particular relationships. We used the iterative selection method to compare these physiological functions with the functions of signaling molecules, and establish the direct mapping between Yang-Yin and signaling molecules. With the mapping, it is shown that the pathways of these signaling molecules are the same as the dialectical relationships of these Yang-Yins and agree well with TCM therapeutic strategies. The Chinese herbal medicine actually regulates the level of corresponding signaling molecule. With the mapping, it is clearly shown that the modern medicine and TCM identify the same pathogenesis of diseases, such as hematuria, constipation, hemorrhoidal disease, nocturnal enuresis, frequent urination, gall stone, acute cholecystitis and hypertension; and adopt the same treatment strategy. Modern medicine and TCM describes the same physiological process using different terminology. '''Key words''': Signaling molecules, traditional Chinese medicine, pathways, Yang and Yin, therapeutic strategy.

Abstract

Knowledge of signal transduction pathways and their corresponding signaling molecules is critical in evaluating potential therapeutic targets. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) used Yang and Yin to describe the physiological processes in human body, but its scientific basis is unknown. According to “Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” (YEIC)―the fundamental doctrinal source for TCM―there are five elements of Yang-Yin, each pertaining to particular physiological functions. Their interaction and relationship determine the physiological conditions of human being. In this work, iterative selection method was used to correlate YangYin-Qi with signal molecules. It is revealed that the signal transduction pathways are identical to the dialectical relationships of Yang-Yin-Qi(s). With the direct mapping between Yang-YinQi(s) and signaling molecules, the signal transduction pathways are consistent with TCM therapeutic strategies too. In addition, it is demonstrated that the Chinese herbal medicine regulates signal transductions. With the correlation between Yang―Yin(s) and signal transduction pathways, it is evident that the modern medicine and TCM identified the same pathogenesis of diseases, such as hematuria, constipation, hemorrhoidal disease, nocturnal enuresis, frequent urination, gall stone, acute cholecystitis and hypertension, etc; with highly similar treatment strategy, albeit using different terminologies.