AKT1 gene amplification as a biomarker of treatment response in ovarian cancer: mounting evidence of a therapeutic target

Network pharmacology- and molecular docking-based exploration of the molecular mechanism underlying Jianpi Yiwei Recipe treatment of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used as an important complementary and alternative healthcare system for cancer treatment in Asian countries. Network pharmacology, which utilizes various database platforms and computer software to study the interactions between complex drug components in vivo, is particularly useful for studying the pharmacodynamic mechanisms of multi-pathway and multi-target Chinese medicines.

AIM

To explore the potential targets and function of Jianpi Yiwei Recipe treatment of gastric cancer (GC) through network pharmacology and molecular docking.

METHODS

Data on the components of Jianpi Yiwei Recipe (Radix Astragali, Radix Codonopsis, Agrimonia eupatoria, Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz., Poria cocos, stir-baked rhizoma dioscoreae, Amomum villosum Lour., fried Fructus Aurantii, pericarpium citri reticulatae, Rhizoma Pinelliae Preparata, and Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata) were collected and screened by using the TCM systems pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP). Then the targets of these compounds were predicted. GC-related targets were screened using the GeneCards database. Venn diagram was used to identify common targets. An active ingredient-core target interaction network and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were built. Moreover, we performed gene ontology (GO) functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses on the core targets and validated them by molecular docking.

RESULTS

TCMSP screening revealed 11 active components and 184 targets, whereas GeneCards found 10118 disease-related targets, with 180 shared targets between them. Topology analysis of the PPI network identified 38 targets, including ATK1, TP53, and tumor necrosis factor, as key targets for the treatment of GC by Jianpi Yiwei Recipe. Quercetin, naringenin, luteolin, etc., may be the main active components of Jianpi Yiwei Recipe. GO enrichment analysis identified 2809, 1218, and 553 functions related to biological process, molecular function, and cellular component, respectively. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed 167 related pathways, mainly involved in cancer, endocrine resistance, and AGE-RAGE signaling in diabetic complication. Validation with molecular docking analysis showed docking of key active components with core targets.

CONCLUSION

Jianpi Yiwei Recipe plays a therapeutic role in GC through multiple components, targets, and pathways. These findings form a basis for follow-up exploration of Jianpi Yiwei Recipe in the treatment of GC.

Molecular Mechanisms of Cassia fistula against Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Using Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Approaches

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the deadliest reproductive tract malignancies that form on the external tissue covering of an ovary. Cassia fistula is popular for its anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties in conventional medications. Nevertheless, its molecular mechanisms are still unclear. The current study evaluated the potential of C. fistula for the treatment of EOC using network pharmacology approach integrated with molecular docking. Eight active constituents of C. fistula were obtained from two independent databases and the literature, and their targets were retrieved from the SwissTargetPrediction. In total, 1077 EOC associated genes were retrieved from DisGeNET and GeneCardsSuite databases, and 800 potential targets of eight active constituents of C. fistula were mapped to the 1077 EOC targets and intersected targets from two databases. Ultimately, 98 potential targets were found from C. fistula for EOC. Finally, the protein-protein interaction network (PPI) topological interpretation revealed AKT1, CTNNB1, ESR1, and CASP3 as key targets. This is the first time four genes have been found against EOC from C. fistula. The major enriched pathways of these candidate genes were established by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) investigations. To confirm the network pharmacology findings, the molecular docking approach demonstrated that active molecules have higher affinity for binding to putative targets for EOC suppression. More pharmacological and clinical research is required for the development of a drug to treat EOC.

A Network Pharmacology Study to Uncover the Mechanism of FDY003 for Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the deadliest gynecological tumors responsible for 0.21 million deaths per year worldwide. Despite the increasing interest in the use of herbal drugs for cancer treatment, their pharmacological effects in OC treatment are not understood from a systems perspective. Using network pharmacology, we determined the anti-OC potential of FDY003 from a comprehensive systems view. We observed that FDY003 suppressed the viability of human OC cells and further chemosensitized them to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Through network pharmacological and pharmacokinetic approaches, we identified 16 active ingredients in FDY003 and their 108 targets associated with OC mechanisms. Functional enrichment investigation revealed that the targets may coordinate diverse cellular behaviors of OC cells, including their growth, proliferation, survival, death, and cell cycle regulation. Furthermore, the FDY003 targets are important constituents of diverse signaling pathways implicated in OC mechanisms (eg, phosphoinositide 3-kinase [PI3K]-Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase [MAPK], focal adhesion, hypoxia-inducible factor [HIF]-1, estrogen, tumor necrosis factor [TNF], erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog [ErbB], Janus kinase [JAK]-signal transducer and activator of transcription [STAT], and p53 signaling). In summary, our data present a comprehensive understanding of the anti-OC effects and mechanisms of action of FDY003.

Clinical crosstalk between microRNAs and gastric cancer (Review)

Globally, there were over 1 million new gastric cancer (GC) patients in 2018 and GC has become the sixth most common cancer worldwide. GC caused 783,000 deaths worldwide in 2018, making it the third most deadly cancer type. miRNAs are short (~22 nucleotides in length) non‑coding RNA molecules, which can regulate gene expression passively at a post‑transcriptional level. There are more and more in‑depth studies on miRNAs. There are numerous conclusive evidences that there is an inseparable link between miRNAs and GC. miRNAs can affect the entire process of GC, including the oncogenesis, development, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of GC. Although many miRNAs have been linked to GC, few can be applied to clinical practice. This review takes the clinical changes of GC as a clue and summarizes the miRNAs related to GC that have confirmed the mechanism of action in the past three years. Through in‑depth study and understanding of the mechanism of those miRNAs, we predict their possible clinical uses, and suggest some new insights to overcome GC.

Molecular subtyping of cancer and nomination of kinase candidates for inhibition with phosphoproteomics: Reanalysis of CPTAC ovarian cancer

Background

Molecular subtyping of cancer aimed to predict patient overall survival (OS) and nominate drug targets for patient treatments is central to precision oncology. Owing to the rapid development of phosphoproteomics, we can now measure thousands of phosphoproteins in human cancer tissues. However, limited studies report how to analyse the complex phosphoproteomic data for cancer subtyping and to nominate druggable kinase candidates.

Findings

In this work, we reanalysed the phosphoproteomic data of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) from the Clinical Proteomic Tumour Analysis Consortium (CPTAC). Our analysis classified HGSOC into 5 major subtypes that were associated with different OS and appeared to be more accurate than that achieved with protein profiling. We provided a workflow to identify 29 kinases whose increased activities in tumours are associated with poor survival. The altered kinase signalling landscape of HGSOC included the PI3K/AKT/mTOR, cell cycle and MAP kinase signalling pathways. We also developed a “patient-specific” hierarchy of clinically actionable kinases and selected kinase inhibitors by considering kinase activation and kinase inhibitor selectivity.

Interpretation

Our study offered a global phosphoproteomics data analysis workflow to aid in cancer molecular subtyping, determining phosphorylation-based cancer hallmarks and facilitating nomination of kinase inhibition in cancer.

MicroRNA-490-3p regulates cell proliferation and apoptosis in gastric cancer via direct targeting of AKT1

microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of gastric cancer (GC) and adjacent healthy gastric mucosa tissue were used to search for differentially expressed miRNAs, identifying downregulated miRNA-490-3p in GC. The present study aimed to investigate the cellular function of miRNA-490-3p and its underlying mechanism in the occurrence and progression of GC. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure miRNA-490-3p expression levels in GC tissue and adjacent healthy tissue samples. The regulatory effect of miRNA-490-3p on the proliferation and apoptosis of GC cells was detected by cell counting kit-8, colony formation assay and flow cytometry. Bioinformatic methods were used to predict AKT1 as the target of miRNA-490-3p and this was verified by a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, western blot analysis was used to measure protein expression of AKT1 in GC cells following overexpression or knockdown of miRNA-490-3p. The present study demonstrated that miRNA-490-3p expression was downregulated in GC tissue, compared with adjacent healthy tissue. In particular, miRNA-490-3p expression levels were significantly decreased in GC tissue samples from patients with advanced cancer (stage III+IV) compared with samples from patients with early-stage (stage I+II) cancer. Additionally, miRNA-490-3p expression levels were significantly decreased in GC tissue samples from patients whose tumor size was >3 cm, compared with those <3 cm. In vitro, downregulation of miRNA-490-3p promoted cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis. In addition, rescue experiments demonstrated that overexpression of AKT1 partially reversed the effect of miRNA-490-3p on cell proliferation and apoptosis. The present study demonstrated that miRNA-490-3p regulated proliferation and apoptosis in gastric cancer cells via direct targeting of AKT1.