Title:Identification of the Key Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients of Yishen
Qutong Granule, A Chinese Medicine Formula, In The Treatment of Primary
Lung Cancer
Volume: 26
Issue: 8
Author(s): Jiayang Chen, Li Feng*, Wei Jin, Jinyuan Chang, Jie Li and Hao Li
Affiliation:
- Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/
Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
Keywords:
Lung cancer, traditional Chinese medicine, high throughput screening, active pharmaceutical ingredients, yishen qutong granule, Chinese medicine formula.
Abstract:
Background: Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) reportedly has potential therapeutic effects against LC.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the antitumor efficacy of Yishen Qutong granule
(YSQTG) in primary LC treatment, to identify its key active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs),
and to explore its possible mechanism of action.
Methods: The antitumor role of YSQTG was validated via cell function assays and a xenograft
tumor model. Then, high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was
performed to determine the objective precipitation components of YSQTG, followed by target prediction
through reference to databases. Subsequently, the proportion of the predicted targets that underwent
actual changes was identified via RNA-sequencing. Enrichment analysis was performed to
explore the possible mechanisms of action. Hub genes were screened, and western blotting was used
to verify their protein expression levels to identify the core target. Molecular docking between the active
compounds and the verified core target was performed, combined with an evaluation of the potential
efficacy of candidate compounds using meta-analysis to screen the candidate key APIs.
Results: Experiments confirmed that YSQTG could inhibit LC cell proliferation, induce apoptosis
in vitro, and inhibit lung tumor growth in vivo. HPLC-MS, RNA-seq, and enrichment analysis
showed that oxidative stress-related pathways were the possible mechanism of YSQTG in primary
LC treatment. Western blot verification indicated that heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX1, HO-1) could
be the core target. Molecular docking and meta-analysis suggested that genistein and quercetin
were the candidate key APIs.
Conclusion: YSQTG and its active ingredients, genistein and quercetin, may have therapeutic effects
against LC through their action on the downregulation of oxidative stress-related HMOX1
protein expression.