ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Head and Neck Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1601725
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancements in Personalized Medicine for Head and Neck Cancer: Molecular-based Approaches to Treatment and CareView all articles
Network pharmacology mechanisms and experimental verification of Hedyotis Diffusae Herba-Scutellariae Barbatae Herba drug pair extract in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Provisionally accepted
Tiantian Li1*
Haijun Chen2Jiaxin Liu1Rundong Tang1Liang Zhang1Tian Feng1Yanchun Xiao1Shiwen Liu1Xiangjun Chen1- 1Shenzhen Bao'an Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen, China
- 2Key Laboratory of Research and Utilization of Ethnomedicinal Plant Resources of Hunan Province, Huaihua University, Huaihua, China
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Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) represents the predominant headneck malignancy in China. While the Hedyotis Diffusae Herba-Scutellariae Barbatae Herba (HDH-SBH) herb pair shows antitumor potential, its mechanism against NPC remains unclear.Methods: This network pharmacology study integrated with experimental validation identified NPC-related targets through GEO database and disease databases (OMIM, GeneCards, TTD). Active components of HDH-SBH and their targets were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database (TCMSP).Common targets were analyzed via STRING, with functional enrichment using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). Core components were validated through molecular docking and in vitro experiments using HDH-SBH-treated 5-8F and CNE2 cells.We identified 36 bioactive components and 155 shared targets, with quercetin, luteolin, wogonin, and β-sitosterol emerging as core components. KEGG analysis highlighted PI3K/AKT pathway inhibition (P<0.05). Molecular docking confirmed strong binding between core components and key targets (AKT1, TP53, BCL2). In vitro validation showed HDH-SBH significantly inhibited NPC cell proliferation/migration while inducing apoptosis through downregulating BCL2, upregulating TP53, and suppressing AKT1 phosphorylation.Based on the network pharmacology approach, we predicted the potential mechanism of HDH-SBH for the treatment of NPC, which provided a new idea for further research on its pharmacological mechanism.
Keywords: Drug pair, Hedyotis Diffusae Herba, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Network Pharmacology, PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, Scutellariae barbatae herba
Received: 28 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Chen, Liu, Tang, Zhang, Feng, Xiao, Liu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tiantian Li, Shenzhen Bao'an Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen, China
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