Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2024; 16(7): 2988-2998
Published online Jul 15, 2024. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v16.i7.2988
Network pharmacology- and molecular docking-based exploration of the molecular mechanism underlying Jianpi Yiwei Recipe treatment of gastric cancer
Peng Chen, Huan-Yu Wu
Peng Chen, Huan-Yu Wu, Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University, Tianjin 300193, China
Author contributions: Chen P designed the research and wrote the first manuscript; Chen P and Wu HY contributed to conceiving the research and analyzing data; Chen P conducted the analysis and provided guidance for the research; and all authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Peng Chen, BMed, Doctor, Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University, No. 88 Changling Road, Xiqing District, Tianjin 300193, China. ajisan4@163.com
Received: February 26, 2024
Revised: April 26, 2024
Accepted: May 14, 2024
Published online: July 15, 2024
Processing time: 137 Days and 14.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used as an important complementary and alternative healthcare system for cancer treatment in Asian countries. Network pharmacology, which utilizes various database platforms and computer software to study the interactions between complex drug components in vivo, is particularly useful for studying the pharmacodynamic mechanisms of multi-pathway and multi-target Chinese medicines.

AIM

To explore the potential targets and function of Jianpi Yiwei Recipe treatment of gastric cancer (GC) through network pharmacology and molecular docking.

METHODS

Data on the components of Jianpi Yiwei Recipe (Radix Astragali, Radix Codonopsis, Agrimonia eupatoria, Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz., Poria cocos, stir-baked rhizoma dioscoreae, Amomum villosum Lour., fried Fructus Aurantii, pericarpium citri reticulatae, Rhizoma Pinelliae Preparata, and Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata) were collected and screened by using the TCM systems pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP). Then the targets of these compounds were predicted. GC-related targets were screened using the GeneCards database. Venn diagram was used to identify common targets. An active ingredient-core target interaction network and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were built. Moreover, we performed gene ontology (GO) functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses on the core targets and validated them by molecular docking.

RESULTS

TCMSP screening revealed 11 active components and 184 targets, whereas GeneCards found 10118 disease-related targets, with 180 shared targets between them. Topology analysis of the PPI network identified 38 targets, including ATK1, TP53, and tumor necrosis factor, as key targets for the treatment of GC by Jianpi Yiwei Recipe. Quercetin, naringenin, luteolin, etc., may be the main active components of Jianpi Yiwei Recipe. GO enrichment analysis identified 2809, 1218, and 553 functions related to biological process, molecular function, and cellular component, respectively. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed 167 related pathways, mainly involved in cancer, endocrine resistance, and AGE-RAGE signaling in diabetic complication. Validation with molecular docking analysis showed docking of key active components with core targets.

CONCLUSION

Jianpi Yiwei Recipe plays a therapeutic role in GC through multiple components, targets, and pathways. These findings form a basis for follow-up exploration of Jianpi Yiwei Recipe in the treatment of GC.

Keywords: Jianpi Yiwei Recipe; Gastric cancer treatment; Network pharmacology; Key target; Molecular docking

Core Tip: Traditional Chinese medicine plays an important complementary and alternative medical system, natural anticancer compounds were shown to have good efficacy, few side effects, and low toxicity, making them effective in anti-tumor therapy. This study revealed that Jianpi Yiwei Recipe plays a therapeutic role in gastric cancer through multiple components, targets, and pathways through network pharmacology and molecular docking.