Network pharmacology and experimental verification reveal the mechanism of safranal against glioblastoma (GBM).

Introduction: Safranal is an active component of the traditional Tibetan medicine (TTM) saffron, which has potential anticancer activity.

Methods And Results: Here, we studied the therapeutic effect and mechanism of safranal on GBM. CCK-8, GBM-brain organoid coculture experiments and 3D tumour spheroid invasion assays showed that safranal inhibited GBM cell proliferation and invasion . Network pharmacology, RNA-seq, molecular docking analysis, western blotting, apoptosis, and cell cycle assays predicted and verified that safranal could promote GBM cell apoptosis and G2/M phase arrest and inhibit the PI3K/AKT/mTOR axis. experiments showed that safranal could inhibit GBM cell growth alone and in combination with TMZ.

Conclusion: This study revealed that safranal inhibits GBM cell growth and , promotes GBM cell apoptosis and G2/M phase arrest, inhibits the PI3K/AKT/mTOR axis and cooperate with TMZ.