Exploring the Mechanism of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi Efficacy against Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Analysis

Abstract

Background. Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG) has been widely shown to induce apoptosis and inhibit invasion and migration of various cancer cells. Increased evidence shows that SBG may be useful to treat oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, the biological activity and possible mechanisms of SBG in the treatment of OSCC have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to clarify the bioactive component and multitarget mechanisms of SBG against OSCC using network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods. Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database was used to predict the active components in SBG, and putative molecular targets of SBG were identified using the Swiss Target Prediction database. OSCC-related targets were screened by GeneCards, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), and Therapeutic Target Database (TTD). Then, we established protein-protein interaction (PPI), compound-target-disease (C-T-D), and compound-target-pathway (C-T-P) networks by Cytoscape to identify the main components, core targets, and pharmacological pathways of SBG against OSCC via applying data mining techniques and topological parameters. Metascape database was utilized for Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analysis. The potential interaction of the main components with core targets was revealed by molecular docking simulation, and for the correlation between core targets and OSCC prognosis analysis, the Kaplan–Meier Plotter online database was used. Results. There were 25 active compounds in SBG and 86 genes targeted by OSCC. A total of 141 signaling pathways were identified, and it was found that the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway may occupy core status in the anti-OSCC system. GO analysis revealed that the primary biological processes were related to apoptosis, proliferation, and migration. Molecular docking results confirmed that core targets of OSCC had a high affinity with the main compounds of SBG. Conclusion. Our study demonstrated multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway characteristics of SBG in the treatment of OSCC and provided a foundation for further drug development research.

Protective Effect and Potential Mechanism of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Shaoyao-Gancao Decoction on Ethanol-Induced Gastric Ulcers in Rats

“…This type of analysis provides a powerful tool for exploring the mechanisms of action of traditional Chinese medicines and developing active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines [ 44 , 45 ]. Network pharmacology is also visually presented through the network structure diagram of “Traditional Chinese Medicine-Ingredients-Targets–Diseases,” which can effectively reveal the key nodes of traditional Chinese medicine compounds [ 46 – 49 ], predict the potential mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicines, and discover innovative drugs [ 50 ].…”

The Mechanism of Houttuynia cordata Embryotoxicity Was Explored in Combination with an Experimental Model and Network Pharmacology

“…Targets related to embryotoxicity were acquired by combining targets from the two databases and deleting duplicates. These co-targets were then filtered using Venny 2.1 ( , accessed on 1 July 2022) and classified as possible targets for H. cordata in embryotoxicity [ 45 ].…”

Exploration of the Pharmacological Mechanism of Bufei Nashen Pill in Treating Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Using Network Pharmacology Integrated Molecular Docking

“…The keywords “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” were used to search the databases GeneCard (https://www.genecards.org/ 22 ), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) (https://omim.org/), 23 and Therapeutic Target Database (TTD) (http://db.idrblab.net/ttd/ 24 ) to obtain COPD-related targets. Targets with reference scores greater than 30 were selected as candidates, and duplicates were eliminated …”