The potential mechanism of ursolic acid in the treatment of bladder cancer based on network pharmacology and molecular docking.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the potential molecular mechanisms of ursolic acid (UA) in bladder cancer treatment using network pharmacology and molecular docking. METHODS: The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology and UniProt databases were used to screen potential targets of UA. Relevant bladder cancer target genes were extracted using the GeneCards database. All data were pooled and intercrossed to obtain common target genes of UA and bladder cancer. Gene Ontology functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Molecular docking was conducted to verify the possible binding conformation between UA and bladder cancer cells. Then, in vitro experiments were performed to further validate the predicted results. RESULTS: UA exerts anti-tumor effects on bladder cancer through multiple targets and pathways. Molecular docking indicated that UA undergoes stable binding with the proteins encoded by the top six core genes (STAT3, VEGFA, CASP3, TP53, IL1B, and CCND1). The in vitro experiments verified that UA can induce bladder cancer cell apoptosis by regulating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Our study illustrated the potential mechanism of UA in bladder cancer based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. The results will provide scientific references for follow-up studies and clinical treatment.