Network pharmacology-based analysis of the mechanism of Guben Sanjie Pill in the treatment of lung cancer

Background: Lung cancer (LC) is a malignant tumor with the highest morbidity and mortality in the world. A traditional Chinese medicine formula, Guben Sanjie Pill (GBSJP), is an effective method for the clinical treatment of LC patients, but its molecular mechanism is unclear. Here, the aim was to detect the potential molecular mechanism of GBSJP in LC.Methods: Components and potential targets of GBSJP were obtained from TCMSP databases. Targets related to LC were obtained from the databases. The potential biological effects for targets of GBSJP were analyzed by the R Bioconductor package on the basis of GO analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment. The compound-target network, target-pathway network, and PPI network were constructed by using Cytoscape 3.3.0 software. The underlying mechanism of GBSJP in the treatment of LC was assessed through molecular docking analyses. Finally, the molecular mechanism was validated experimentally.Results: 50 active ingredients and 158 common targets in GBSJP were identified to be closely associated with LC. The PPI network revealed that AKT1, IL-6, and TP53 were potential core targets. KEGG pathway analysis indi-cated that these targets were mostly involved in PI3K-Akt signaling pathway in LC. Molecular docking analysis found that quercetin, the main active ingredient of GBSJP had high binding activity with AKT1, IL-6, and TP53. A molecular study demonstrated that high-dose quercetin treatment markedly decreased the expression of AKT1, IL-6, and TP53.Conclusion: GBSJP may regulate the expression of AKT1, IL-6, and TP53 to influence biological processes as a molecular mechanism for the treatment of LC.