Mechanism of 'Epimedium-Cistanche deserticola' in the treatment of breast cancer with bone metastasis

摘要

Objective:"Epimedium - Cistanche deserticola" is a kind of kidney tonifying drug commonly used in the treatment of breast cancer bone metastasis, which has good clinical effect, but the pharmacological mechanism has not been fully clarified. Methods: In this study, the network pharmacology and bioinformatics technology were used to explore the mechanism of "Epimedium - Cistanche deserticola" in the treatment of breast cancer bone metastasis. TCMSP, TCM database@Taiwan and TCMID databases were used to screen the main effective components of the drug. Swiss Target Prediction and STITCH databases were used to search the potential target of action of Epimedium and Cistanche deserticola. Genecards, OMIN and Drugbank databases were used to search the cause of bone metastasis of breast cancer. The target of action of the drug and the disease gene were mapped for GO and KEGG signal pathway analysis, A visualized network of "drug - component - target - signaling pathway" was constructed by using the software of Cytoscape 3.6.0, and the core genes were screened out. Results: The study found that there are 30 main effective components of Epimedium and Cistanche deserticola, and 544 genes are involved in the potential therapeutic targets, among which 101 genes are potential targets of Epimedium and Cistanche deserticola in the treatment of breast cancer bone metastasis. Through the analysis of GO and KEGG pathways, we found that the mechanisms involved in antitumor, osteoblast differentiation, osteoclast apoptosis and regulation of bone microenvironment, such as apoptosis, osteoclast differentiation, PI3K-Akt, HIF-1 signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway, etc. TP53, VEGFA, AKT1, EGFR, SRC, CCND1, MAPK3, ESR1 may be the key genes in the treatment of breast cancer bone metastasis. Conclusion: In this study, the network of "drug - component - target- signaling pathway" was constructed through network pharmacology, and it was found that the mechanism of "Epimedium - Cistanche deserticola" in the treatment of breast cancer bone metastasis involves multiple targets and pathways, which is conducive to guiding clinical medication.