Mechanism underlying the effect of Pulsatilla decoction in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment: a network pharmacology and in vitro analysis

Abstract

Background Currently, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with a poor prognosis. Moreover, there exist limited strategies for treating HCC. Pulsatilla decoction (PD), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has been used to treat inflammatory bowel disease and several cancer types. Accordingly, we explored the mechanism of PD in HCC treatment via network pharmacology and in vitro experiments. Methods Online databases were searched for gene data, active components, and potential target genes associated with HCC development. Subsequently, bioinformatics analysis was performed using protein–protein interaction and Network Construction and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) to screen for potential anticancer components and therapeutic targets of PD. Finally, the effect of PD on HCC was further verified by in vitro experiments. Results Network pharmacological analysis revealed that 65 compounds and 180 possible target genes were associated with the effect of PD on HCC. These included PI3K, AKT, NF-κB, FOS, and NFKBIA. KEGG analysis demonstrated that PD exerted its effect on HCC mainly via the PI3K-AKT, IL-17, and TNF signaling pathways. Cell viability and cell cycle experiments revealed that PD could significantly inhibit cancer cell proliferation and kill HCC cells by inducing apoptosis. Furthermore, western blotting confirmed that apoptosis was mediated primarily via the PI3K-AKT, IL-17, and TNF signaling pathways. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to elucidate the molecular mechanism and potential targets of PD in the treatment of HCC using network pharmacology.

Anticancer properties and metabolomic profiling of Shorea roxburghii extracts toward gastrointestinal cancer cell lines

“…Medicinal plants and plant-derived products have been shown to be an important source of anti-cancer agents because they are simple, safer, eco-friendly, low-cost, and less toxic than traditional treatment approaches [ 15 – 18 ]. Medicinal plants contain various phytochemical compounds, which current technology has identified many effective anticancer substances, for example, polysaccharides, triterpenes, flavonoids, proteins.…”