Network Pharmacology Based Retrieval of Bioactive Ingredients of Platycodon grandiflorus and its Molecular Mechanism against Breast Cancer

Ma Qiang, Deng Xuesong, Xiong Shu, Li Guoli, Chen Jie, Yang Zhenni, Luo Jiao and Miao Jiawei

Background and Objective: Breast cancer is one of the most frequent types of cancer that affects women worldwide. For their effective treatment which poses fewer side effects as compared to chemotherapy, herbs should be employed as therapeutic agents. Platycodon grandiflorus, a traditional herb of Chinese medicine is reported to be effective against many diseases such as cancer. Therefore, the pharmacological action of P. grandiflorus in treating breast cancer was investigated via the interactions of the herb with biological pathways and drug interactions. Materials and Methods: The ensuing literature search yielded the development of an ingredient-target database for P. grandiflorus, after which the targets relative to breast cancer were identified. STITCH database was used for the determination of PPIN, while cytoscape and its plugin ClueGO revealed the GO term pathway enrichment analysis. Results: The 10 compounds in P. grandiflorus and 58 targets were identified after which a screening of these compounds revealed 8 targets to be associated with breast cancer, including JUN, FOS, EGFR and MAPK8. 91 GO terms were elucidated using annotation clusters of gene functions as well as abundance value of targets. Conclusion: The study findings revealed the effective role of P. grandiflorus in the treatment of breast cancer, due to the action of its multiple compounds. The observed molecular mechanisms proposed in this study could be cellular response to cadmium ion, JUN phosphorylation, positive regulation of pri-miRNA transcription from RNA polymerase II promotor, response to estradiol and positive regulation of smooth muscle regulation.

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