Objective To explore the molecular mechanism of luteolin in the treatment of cervical cancer based on network pharmacology and molecular docking technology.
Methods The drug-like properties of luteolin were analyzed by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP). The targets of luteolin were obtained from PharmMapper, Super-PRED, and Swiss Target Prediction databases. The targets related to cervical cancer were acquired from GeneCards, OMIM, and PharmGKB databases. The intersection targets of luteolin and cervical cancer were obtained through EVenn, and the "luteolin-intersection targets-cervical cancer" network diagram was constructed by Cytoscape 3.8.1. The STRING database was used to analyze the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of intersection targets and screen the core targets. The Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (David) was used to conduct Gene Ontology (GO) gene function analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signaling pathway enrichment analysis of the targets. PyMoL 2.6.0, AutoDockTool 1.5.7 and OpenBabel 2.4.1 software were used to perform molecular docking between the core targets and luteolin. The survival analysis and pan-cancer analysis of the core targets were performed in the GEPIA database.
Results A total of 449 targets of luteolin and 1 334 targets related to cervical cancer were obtained; there were 100 intersection targets between luteolin and cervical cancer, of which 24 were core targets, including MMP2, HRAS, MAPK1, AKT1, RHOA and PGR. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that the intersection targets participated in 455 biological processes, 70 cellular components, 119 molecular functions, and 143 KEGG signaling pathways. Molecular docking revealed a good binding of MMP2 with luteolin. The survival curves of cervical cancer patients showed that the risk ratios of RHOA, MAPK1, MMP2 and AKT1 genes were greater than 1, while those of HRAS and PGR were less than 1. Pan-cancer analysis showed that HRAS and MAPK1 were highly expressed in cervical cancer, and HRAS had significant expression differences.
Conclusion Luteolin treats cervical cancer through a multi-target and multi-pathway mechanism.
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