Jindao Wang,Minghui Zhou,Qiuli Zhou,Guangyang Sun,Yu Zhang,Feng Tao,Minfeng Ye
Background Gastric cancer (GC) is the third leading culprit of cancer-related deaths around the world. Beta-sitosterol (BS) is an important phytosterol that has been proven to have anti-proliferative effects on GC and other tumors. However, mechanisms and targets of BS in cancer are rarely explored. Methods In this investigation, the targets of BS in the treatment of GC were analyzed by network pharmacology. Molecular docking and cellular thermal shift assay were introduced to validate the binding relationship between BS and PTGS1. The impacts of BS on GC cell viability, half maximal inhibitory concentration, proliferation ability, apoptosis level, and angiogenesis ability were detected by using Cell Counting Kit-8, clone formation assay, flow cytometry, and angiogenesis experiment, respectively. In addition, the expression levels of angiogenic factors (VEGF, FGF, PAI-1) were detected by using western blot. Results In this project, through cell experiments, PTGS1 was identified as a protein that directly binds to BS. In vitro cell experiments revealed that BS promoted apoptosis and inhibited GC cell proliferation and angiogenesis. Importantly, treatment with BS attenuated the promoting influence of PTGS1 overexpression on GC cell proliferation and angiogenesis. Conclusion This investigation highlighted PTGS1 as the target of BS in GC cells. BS can regulate PTGS1 to inhibit GC cell proliferation and angiogenesis, providing new evidence for the potential use of BS as a therapeutic agent for GC.
Xiaomin Xu,Donghua Yu,Yu Wang,Peng Xu,Xin Jiang,Fang Lu,Shumin Liu
Resveratrol (Res) has been demonstrated to have beneficial effects on gouty nephropathy (GN). However, the mechanisms of Res on GN remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of Res on GN. In this study, network pharmacology technology was used to predict the Res targets in the prevention and treatment of GN. Renal metabonomics was used to identify differential metabolites in kidney tissue of GN model rats. Finally, molecular docking technology was used to verify the binding ability of Res to key targets. Metabonomics analysis showed that 24 potentially important metabolites were involved in the prevention and treatment of GN with Res. After exposure to Res, metabolite levels normalized. The network pharmacology analysis showed that 24 key targets were involved in the prevention and treatment of GN disease. According to the metabolite–gene network diagram, we identified two core genes, PTGS1 and PTGS2, and found that both were involved in the arachidonic acid metabolism pathway. Molecular docking further verified the affinity of Res binding to PTGS1 and PTGS2. In conclusion, the mechanism of Res against GN may be the regulation of arachidonic acid metabolism through the regulation of PTGS 1 and PTGS 2.
This study evaluated the effects of three extraction methods, hydrodistillation (HD), steam distillation (SD), and lipophilic solvent extraction (LSE), on the yield, chemical composition, and in vitro / in silico biological activities of Schizonepeta tenuifolia (Benth.) Briq essential oil (STEO). The highest yield of STEO was obtained by HD (0.750±0.040%), followed by SD (0.440±0.020%) and LSE (0.350±0.030%). Although their contents varied, menthone and pulegone predominated in HDEO, SDEO, and LSEO. HDEO displayed the strongest antioxidant ability, with a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) IC50 value of 14.164±0.090 mg/mL and 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) value of 0.326±0.023 mg/mL. SDEO demonstrated the highest antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and HDEO the highest potent anti-inflammatory activity. The molecular docking of menthone and pulegone demonstrated strong binding to inflammatory targets, including prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1 (PTGS1) and 2 (PTGS2) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). In short, the extraction method significantly affected the yield, composition, and biological activity of STEO.