Network Pharmacology with Experimental Investigation of the Mechanisms of Rhizoma Polygonati against Prostate Cancer with Additional Herbzymatic Activity

Abstract

A combination therapy of RhizomaPolygonati (RP) with goji (Lycium chinense) has earned a long history in the prescriptions to promote male health. However, the mechanisms at both molecular and nanoscale quantum levels are unclear. Here, we found that processed RP extract induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in cancer cells, thereby inhibiting prostate cancer cell proliferation enhanced by processed goji extract associated with an augment of the nanoscale herbzyme of phosphatase. For network pharmacology analysis, RP-induced PI3K-AKT pathways are essential for both benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer, and the RP/goji combination induces potent pathways which include androgen and estrogen response, kinase regulation, apoptosis, and prostate cancer singling. In addition, the experimental investigation showed that the prostate cancer cells are sensitive to RP extract for inhibiting colony formation. Finally, the natural compound baicalein found in RP ingredients showed a linked activity of top-ranked signaling targets of kinases including MAPK, AKT, and EGFR by the database of cMAP and HERB. Thus, both the nanozyme and ingredients might contribute to the RP in anti-prostate cancer which can be enhanced by goji extract. The proposed nanoscale RP extract might be of significance in developing novel anti-prostate cancer agents by combining goji compositions and targeted therapy compounds.

Metal Ions in Cancer Prevention and Treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine

“…Recently, it was reported that a herbzyme extracted from the RP of Mount Tai can enhance phosphatase activity as a co-enzyme and anti-cancer agent [144][145][146] . The herbzyme activity can be enhanced by CaCl 2 (0.25M), whereas control protein-based phosphatase ALP decreased enzyme activity at 0.75M by the metal calcium solution.…”

Carbon nanoparticles induce DNA repair and PARP inhibitor resistance associated with nanozyme activity in cancer cells

“…The antitumor effect developed by nanozymes with oxidizing characteristics can be attributed to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) [50]. Different elements, natural products or metal-doped carbon-based nanozymes are developed to be used as sensor, anti-cancer therapeutic reagents [52][53][54][55][56]. However, whether this nanozyme induced cell death is reversible is largely unknown, not to mention their roles in drug resistance and DNA repair crosstalk.…”

Network Pharmacology Approach to Identify the Calotropis Phytoconstituents’ Potential Epileptic Targets and Evaluation of Molecular Docking, MD Simulation, and MM‐PBSA Performance

“…Several researchers have recently employed this advanced technique to identify targets and pathways for phytoconstituents found in a variety of plants. [38,39] Therefore, network pharmacology has been performed to highlight the interactions between compounds, genes and signaling pathways in detail. Before the construction of the network, KEGG pathways were downloaded from the STRING 11.5 analysis section, and the signaling pathways which are involved in epilepsy were selected (Table S7).…”