Identification of formononetin as the active compound of CR‐SR in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment: An integrated approach combining network pharmacology and weighted gene co‐expression networks

• DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.14363
• Publication Date: 2023-10-05T19:07:58Z
• Authors: Chun Li; Yuxin Xie; Shaoyu Hu; Hong Yu; Yunke Xu; Hongping Shen; Yuan Yuan; Long Gu; Bangming Pu
• Keywords: Palbociclib

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a life‐threatening disease for which there no cure. Traditional Chinese medicine treasure trove of Medicinals that has been used thousands years. In China, the traditional herb pair, Curcumae Rhizoma and Sparganii (CR‐SR) represent classic herbal combination treatment HCC. However, drug targets pharmacological mechanism action CR‐SR in HCC are unclear. To address this, we screened active components from Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database high‐throughput experiment‐ reference‐guided medicines (HERB database). Combined with weighted co‐expression network analysis dataset GSE76427, constructed an component‐target‐disease regulatory network. It was found CR‐SR's included trans‐gondoic acid, beta‐sitosterol, stigmasterol, hederagenin, formononetin. These compounds specifically targeted genes Estrogen Receptor 1 ( ESR1 ), Cyclin A2 CCNA2 Checkpoint Kinase CHEK1 Nuclear Coactivator 2 NCOA2 ). , showed significant differences survival prognosis, expression levels, statistical significance during pathological stage. Moreover, their high affinity formononetin determined through molecular docking analysis. Cell assays sequencing were performed to reveal inhibitory effect on HepG2 cell proliferation related hepatocyte metabolism cycle regulation‐related pathways. This study provides insights into potential treatments.