Mechanism of Arnebia euchroma Against Hepatocarcinoma Based on Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification
10.13422/j.cnki.syfjx.20221416
- VernacularTitle:基于网络药理学及实验验证探讨新疆紫草抗肝癌作用机制
- Author:
Mengge DU
1
;
Bo LYU
2
;
Lingyu MENG
1
;
Peiyan PAN
1
;
Dongmei QIN
1
Author Information
1. Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource and Utilization， Ministry of Education， School of Pharmacy， Shihezi University， Shihezi 832000， China
2. First Affiliated Hospital， School of Medicine， Shihezi University， Shihezi 832000， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Arnebia euchroma;
hepatocarcinoma;
network pharmacology;
molecular docking;
experimental validation
- From:
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae
2022;28(24):75-86
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
ObjectiveTo investigate the material basis and mechanism of Arnebia euchroma against hepatocarcinoma by network pharmacology， and to verify the potential targets of A. euchroma against hepatocarcinoma by molecular docking and experiments. MethodThe main active ingredients of A. euchroma were collected by retrieving the literature through China National Knowledge Network （CNKI） and Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform（TCMSP）. The active ingredients were screened out by FAFDrug4 platform according to the pharmacokinetics （ADME） properties of the drugs. The screening compounds and liver cancer targets were collected by using several databases and analyzed by drawing Venn diagrams. The protein-protein interaction （PPI） network was constructed by Cytoscape and STRING database. DAVID database was used to perform Gene Ontology （GO） functional enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis of key targets. Autodock was used to perform molecular docking of targets on core pathways. Cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） experiment was carried out to validate the activities of five naphthoquinones. Based on the predicted results in the H22 tumor-bearing mouse model， the key targets of isovalerylshikonin against hepatocarcinoma were verified by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining， enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）， and Western blot assay. ResultFifty-five active ingredients and 34 targets of active ingredients against hepatocarcinoma were screened out. The active molecules with high degree values in the “drug-active ingredient-target-disease” network were mainly naphthoquinones. PPI network obtained several core targets of A. euchroma against hepatocarcinoma. Twenty-two pathways were screened out by KEGG analysis， mainly involving phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt）， vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF）， tumor necrosis factor （TNF）， and other signaling pathways. The results of molecular docking showed that the five naphthoquinones had a good affinity with the targets of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. The results of CCK-8 and animal experiments showed that the lipid-soluble component isovalerylshikonin had good anti-cancer potential， and the high-dose group reduced the serum levels of VEGF and alpha fetoprotein （AFP） levels and elevated interferon-γ （IFN-γ） level （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The high-dose group also down-regulated phosphorylate（p）-Akt （Ser473） and B-cell lymphoma （Bcl）-2 protein expressions and up-regulated Bcl-2-antagonist of cell death （Bad） protein expression （P<0.01）. ConclusionA. euchroma can inhibit hepatocarcinoma cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis and induce cancer cell apoptosis through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway， which provides ideas and clues for the subsequent in-depth investigation of its specific mechanism.
