The Mechanism of Qidongning Formula Preventing Lung Cancer Based on Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation
摘要
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of the Qidongning Formula (QDF), as the biological material basis and pharmacodynamic mechanism for lung cancer, based on the network pharmacology research method. The active compounds and corresponding targets of QDF were collected through the TCMSP (Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology) database. The targets of lung cancer were retrieved from the three databases of NCBI, GeneCards and OMIM. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) was acquired through the STRING platform. GO (Gene Ontology) functional enrichment analysis and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of genes and genomes) pathway enrichment analysis were performed using DAVID and KOBAS databases. CCK-8 and western blotting were employed to further verify the conclusions of network pharmacology. Atotal of 31 active compounds and 249 targets genes of QDF were collected, and those with a higher degree were identified through the PPI network, namely MAPK1, TP53, AKT1, RELA, EP300, ESR1, MAPK14, EGFR, TNF, FOS, CAV1, IL6, MAPK8, etc. GO and KEGG analyses suggested that QDF treatment of lung cancer mainly involves cytokine-mediated signaling pathways, oxidative stress response, positive regulation of gene expression, multicellular biological processes, negative regulation of apoptosis, and pathways in cancer. The cell experiment indicated that QDF could effectively suppress the proliferation of lung cancer cells A549, and when compared with the control group, QDF significantly inhibited the expression of p-P38, P-AKT, and TNF-a. The intervention of QDF for lung cancer has the characteristics of multicomponent, multitarget, multipath, and full-link regulation, and may provide a theoretical basis for the study and experimental study of its active components.