Drug Design, Development and Therapy (Aug 2023)
Integrating Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation to Explore the Effects and Mechanisms of Qinghao Biejia Decoction and Its Active Compound Artemisinin B Against Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Abstract
Yonghua Ye,1 Yuping Yang,1 Li Yan,1 Li Zhou,2 Shihui Yu,1 Quan Du,3 Xiaoqiao Dong,3 Qiang Yuan,1 Letian Shan,2,4 Le Guo1 1College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Cell Resource Bank and Integrated Cell Preparation Center of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou Regional Cell Preparation Center (Shangyu Biotechnology Co., Ltd), Hangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Letian Shan, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Tel +15355015568, Email [email protected] Le Guo, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Tel +18986648306, Email [email protected]: To explore the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of Qinghao Biejia decoction (QBD) against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) based on network pharmacology and to verify the anticancer effect of artemisinin B (ART B), the active ingredient of QBD, on H1299 cells.Methods: Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) was applied to explore the chemoprofile of QBD. A zebrafish xenograft model was used to determine the anti-cancer efficacy of QBD. Cell counting kit-8 assay, terminal deoxyribonucleotide transferase-mediated-dUTP nick-end labeling assay; immunofluorescence, and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the in vitro anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of QBD and ART B on H1299 cells. Subsequently, the related targets and action mechanisms of both QBD and ART B predicted by network pharmacological analyses were experimentally validated by real-time PCR and Western blot assays on H1299 cells.Results: UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS identified a total of 69 compounds (such as ART B, mangiferin, and artemisinic acid) in QBD. The in vivo data showed that QBD significantly inhibited the growth of H1299 cells in xenograft larval zebrafish from 125 to 500 μg/mL. The in vitro data showed that QBD induced apoptosis of H1299 cells, accompanied by down-regulating the expression of BCL-2 and up-regulating the expression of BIM, PUMA, BAX, c-PARP, γ-H2A.X, c-CASP3, and c-CASP8. Alike QBD, ART B exerted similar anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects on H1299 cells. Moreover, ART B inhibited expressions of BCL2L1, AKT1, AKT2, MMP-2, and EGFR, and up-regulated ALB expression. Mechanistically, ART B promoted apoptosis of H1299 cells by inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.Conclusion: This study revealed the anti-NSCLC efficacy of QBD. ART B, the effective component of QBD, plays an anti-NSCLC role by down-regulating the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. It suggests that QBD and ART B are promising drug candidates for NSCLC treatment.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: Qinghao Biejia decoction, non-small-cell lung cancer, larval zebrafish, network pharmacology, artemisinin B
