The Effect of on Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Research Based on Network and Experimental Pharmacology.

Purpose: To screen the main active components of through a network pharmacology approach, construct a component-disease target network, explore its molecular mechanism for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and validate it experimentally.

Methods: The active ingredients in and the targets of and NSCLC were collected through the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systematic Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), GeneCards, and OMIM databases. The protein interaction network was constructed using the STRING database, and the component-disease relationship network graph was analyzed using Cytoscape 3.9.1. The Metascape database can be used for GO and KEGG enrichment analyses. The Kaplan-Meier plotter was applied for overall survival analysis of key targets of in the treatment of NSCLC. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to determine the mRNA and protein levels of key targets of for the treatment of NSCLC.

Results: Five active ingredients of were screened, and 54 potential targets for the treatment of NSCLC were found, of which the key ingredient was nobiletin and the key targets are TP53, CXCL8, ESR1, PPAR-, and MMP9. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that the mechanism of nobiletin in treating NSCLC may be related to the regulation of cancer signaling pathway, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway, lipid and atherosclerosis signaling pathway, and neurodegenerative signaling pathway. The experimental results showed that nobiletin could inhibit the proliferation of NSCLC cells and upregulate the levels of P53 and PPAR- and suppress the expression of MMP9 ( < 0.05).

Conclusion: can participate in the treatment of NSCLC through multiple targets and pathways.