Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China (mainland).
Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China (mainland).
Med Sci Monit. 2020 May 31;26:e923624. doi: 10.12659/MSM.923624.
BACKGROUND Artemisia annua exerts powerful effects in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Some studies have shown that Artemisia annua possesses the characteristics of new therapeutic drugs for NSCLC patients. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of Artemisia annua anti-NSCLC is not yet fully elucidated because Artemisia annua contains hundreds of ingredients. This study aimed to conduct network pharmacological analysis on the mechanism of action of Artemisia annua against NSCLC. MATERIAL AND METHODS The active ingredients and corresponding potential targets of Artemisia annua were searched and screened in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP). Then through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases to establish NSCLC related targets. Based on the matching results of Artemisia annua potential targets and NSCLC targets, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to analyze the interactions between these targets and topologically screen the central targets. Furthermore, Gene Ontology (GO) biological functions analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signal pathways enrichment were carried out. RESULTS There were 19 main active ingredients of Artemisia annua screened for target prediction; 40 NSCLC-related common targets were identified via multiple NSCLC databases. The node area and corresponding degree value of AKT1, MYC, CCND1, VEGFA, JUN, MAPK1, EGFR, and ESR1 were large and could be easily found in the PPI network. The aforementioned results were further verified by the analysis of GO biological function and KEGG enrichment analysis. CONCLUSIONS The network pharmacology analysis reveals the molecular biological mechanism of Artemisia annua anti-NSCLC via multiple active components, multi-channels, and multi-targets. This suggests that Artemisia annua might be developed as a promising anti-NSCLC drug.
青蒿具有强大的非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）作用。一些研究表明，青蒿具有治疗 NSCLC 患者的新型治疗药物的特点。然而，由于青蒿含有数百种成分，其抗 NSCLC 的潜在分子机制尚未完全阐明。本研究旨在对青蒿抗 NSCLC 的作用机制进行网络药理学分析。
在中药系统药理学数据库和分析平台（TCMSP）中搜索和筛选青蒿的活性成分和相应的潜在靶点。然后通过癌症基因组图谱（TCGA）和国家生物技术信息中心（NCBI）数据库建立 NSCLC 相关靶点。基于青蒿潜在靶点与 NSCLC 靶点的匹配结果，构建蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络，分析这些靶点之间的相互作用，并进行拓扑筛选中心靶点。此外，进行基因本体论（GO）生物功能分析和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）信号通路富集分析。
筛选出青蒿的 19 种主要活性成分进行靶标预测；通过多个 NSCLC 数据库确定了 40 个 NSCLC 相关的常见靶标。AKT1、MYC、CCND1、VEGFA、JUN、MAPK1、EGFR 和 ESR1 的节点面积和相应的度值较大，在 PPI 网络中很容易找到。GO 生物功能和 KEGG 富集分析进一步验证了上述结果。
网络药理学分析揭示了青蒿通过多种活性成分、多途径、多靶点抗 NSCLC 的分子生物学机制。这表明青蒿可能被开发为一种有前途的抗 NSCLC 药物。
