Cancer Chemo-Preventive Effects of Red Propolis: a System Biology Approach

Abstract

Background and objectives: Propolis is a natural product of honey bees that is characterized by therapeutic effects on diverse diseases. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of propolis effects on tumor, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis of proteome data of Hep-2 cells treated with red propolis was conducted. Methods: Cytoscape V 3.9.1 and its plug-ins evaluated the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in terms of network construction and the corresponding topological features. Results: The results implied that six hub-bottlenecks including ACTB, GAPDH, HSP90AA1, HSPA8, HSP90AB1, and HSPA5 were present in the PPI network; however, only the last central protein was among DEPs. ClueGO+ CluePedia identified five related biological processes and three action types of their connections. Results refer to anticancer property of red propolis. Conclusion: The proposed crucial proteins and their linked biological processes may represent as key players in the anticancer underlying mechanism of red propolis.

Keywords

• biological process
• cancer
• network analysis
• propolis
• therapeutic