Unraveling the Anti‐Tumor Effects and Molecular Mechanisms of Hairyvein Agrimonia Herb in Gastric Cancer Through Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation

TL;DR

This study investigates how Hairyvein Agrimonia Herb fights gastric cancer using network pharmacology and experiments, identifying key genes and compounds involved.

Contribution

The study identifies specific molecular targets and active components of Hairyvein Agrimonia Herb in gastric cancer treatment through network pharmacology and experimental validation.

Findings

Five active components in Hairyvein Agrimonia Herb target 160 gastric cancer-related genes.

Quercetin shows the strongest inhibitory effect on PTGS2 protein docking.

JUN, HIF1A, and PTGS2 are key targets linked to patient survival in gastric cancer.

Abstract

Stomach cancer has become one of the most common types of cancer, with its mortality rate ranking third in the world. Currently, the main treatments for gastric cancer are surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Although current treatments can effectively prevent postoperative metastasis and recurrence of gastric cancer, they may also bring various adverse reactions in the gastrointestinal tract and side effects such as bone marrow suppression. Years of research have confirmed that traditional Chinese medicine treatment for gastric and other cancers has distinct characteristics and advantages. Combined treatment can increase the tumor inhibition rate, reduce the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy, improve patients' quality of life, and prolong the survival prognosis.

This study explores the anti‐tumor effect and specific molecular mechanism of Hairyvein Agrimonia Herb on gastric cancer.

The combination of network pharmacology technology and various experimental techniques, including in vitro cell verification, was carried out throughout the whole study. The results show that five active components in the Hairyvein Agrimonia Herb can act on 160 carcinogenic targets in gastric cancer. String correlation analysis, Cytoscape network topology analysis, core target screening, protein molecule docking, immunohistochemical expression levels, and survival immune correlation analysis revealed that the carcinogenic genes JUN, HIF1A, and PTGS2 may be the primary drug targets for Hairyvein Agrimonia Herb in treating gastric cancer. The active component quercetin shows the best inhibitory effect on the docking of the PTGS2 protein. Furthermore, the prognostic models constructed by the carcinogenic genes JUN, HIF1A, and PTGS2 are significantly correlated with the survival time of gastric cancer patients.

This study provides a new ethical basis and research direction for understanding the mechanism of action of Hairyvein Agrimonia Herb in treating gastric cancer.

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