Investigation of Anti-Liver Cancer Activity of the Herbal Drug FDY003 Using Network Pharmacology.

Globally, liver cancer (LC) is the sixth-most frequently occurring and the second-most fatal malignancy, responsible for 0.83 million deaths annually. Although the application of herbal drugs in cancer therapies has increased, their anti-LC activity and relevant mechanisms have not been fully studied from a systems perspective. To address these issues, we conducted a system-perspective network pharmacological investigation into the activity and mechanisms underlying the action of the herbal drug. FDY003 reduced the viability of human LC treatment. FDY003 reduced the viability of human LC cells and elevated their chemosensitivity. There were a total of 16 potential bioactive chemical components in FDY003 and they had 91 corresponding targets responsible for the pathological processes in LC. These FDY003 targets were functionally involved in regulating the survival, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle of LC cells. Additionally, we found that FDY003 may target key signaling cascades connected to diverse LC pathological mechanisms, namely, PI3K-Akt, focal adhesion, IL-17, FoxO, MAPK, and TNF pathways. Overall, this study contributed to integrative mechanistic insights into the anti-LC potential of FDY003.

Exploration of the System-Level Mechanisms of the Herbal Drug FDY003 for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment: A Network Pharmacological Investigation.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the most lethal cancer with the lowest survival rate globally. Although the prescription of herbal drugs against PC is gaining increasing attention, their polypharmacological therapeutic mechanisms are yet to be fully understood. Based on network pharmacology, we explored the anti-PC properties and system-level mechanisms of the herbal drug FDY003. FDY003 decreased the viability of human PC cells and strengthened their chemosensitivity. Network pharmacological analysis of FDY003 indicated the presence of 16 active phytochemical components and 123 PC-related pharmacological targets. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that the PC-related targets of FDY003 participate in the regulation of cell growth and proliferation, cell cycle process, cell survival, and cell death. In addition, FDY003 was shown to target diverse key pathways associated with PC pathophysiology, namely, the PIK3-Akt, MAPK, FoxO, focal adhesion, TNF, p53, HIF-1, and Ras pathways. Our network pharmacological findings advance the mechanistic understanding of the anti-PC properties of FDY003 from a system perspective.

Uncovering the Anti-Lung-Cancer Mechanisms of the Herbal Drug FDY2004 by Network Pharmacology.

With growing evidence on the therapeutic efficacy and safety of herbal drugs, there has been a substantial increase in their application in the lung cancer treatment. Meanwhile, their action mechanisms at the system level have not been comprehensively uncovered. To this end, we employed a network pharmacology methodology to elucidate the systematic action mechanisms of FDY2004, an anticancer herbal drug composed of Moutan Radicis Cortex, Persicae Semen, and Rhei Radix et Rhizoma, in lung cancer treatment. By evaluating the pharmacokinetic properties of the chemical compounds present in FDY2004 using herbal medicine-associated databases, we identified its 29 active chemical components interacting with 141 lung cancer-associated therapeutic targets in humans. The functional enrichment analysis of the lung cancer-related targets of FDY2004 revealed the enriched Gene Ontology terms, involving the regulation of cell proliferation and growth, cell survival and death, and oxidative stress responses. Moreover, we identified key FDY2004-targeted oncogenic and tumor-suppressive pathways associated with lung cancer, including the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase, tumor necrosis factor, Ras, focal adhesion, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 signaling pathways. Overall, our study provides novel evidence and basis for research on the comprehensive anticancer mechanisms of herbal medicines in lung cancer treatment.

An Investigation of the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Analgesic Effect of Jakyak-Gamcho Decoction: A Network Pharmacology Study.

Herbal drugs have drawn substantial interest as effective analgesic agents; however, their therapeutic mechanisms remain to be fully understood. To address this question, we performed a network pharmacology study to explore the system-level mechanisms that underlie the analgesic activity of Jakyak-Gamcho decoction (JGd; Shaoyao-Gancao-Tang in Chinese and Shakuyaku-Kanzo-To in Japanese), an herbal prescription consisting of Paeonia lactiflora Pallas and Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer. Based on comprehensive information regarding the pharmacological and chemical properties of the herbal constituents of JGd, we identified 57 active chemical compounds and their 70 pain-associated targets. The JGd targets were determined to be involved in the regulation of diverse biological activities as follows: calcium- and cytokine-mediated signalings, calcium ion concentration and homeostasis, cellular behaviors of muscle and neuronal cells, inflammatory response, and response to chemical, cytokine, drug, and oxidative stress. The targets were further enriched in various pain-associated signalings, including the PI3K-Akt, estrogen, ErbB, neurotrophin, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, HIF-1, serotonergic synapse, JAK-STAT, and cAMP pathways. Thus, these data provide a systematic basis to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the analgesic activity of herbal drugs.

A novel method for patterning of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) films using UV exposure-activated self-assembled monolayers.

We have investigated a novel method for patterning of (3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) PEDOT, which has involved a selective polymerization of PEDOT on an UV-activated Self-Assembled-Monolayer surface. OTS coated surface has been activated by UV exposure, and the UV-exposed area served as adsorption sites for FeCl3 oxidants, providing a selective deposition of PEDOT films on FeCl3 adsorbed area, and thus leading to the selective patterning of PEDOT films. UV irradiation time and mask pattern dimension are main contributors to patternability: UV irradiation through Cr-mask (3 microm design) lead to approximately 3-5 microm patterns of PEDOT films, depending on the UV exposure time. In addition, a scotch tape peel test revealed excellent adhesion property of PEDOT to SiO2. Consequently, this simple method can be applied to define deep submicron dimensions due to its ability of providing a direct transfer of mask patterns to the substrate.

Controllable feature sizes of highly conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanofilms patterned on SiO2 surface.

In this paper, we report a novel patterning method for a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanofilm deposited on an OTS monolayer-coated silicon wafer substrate by the vapor phase polymerization method. To scrutinize the adhesion improvement, electrical conductivity and feature controllability, patterned PEDOT nanofilms were investigated with a Scotch tape peel test, I-V curve measurement, and optical and atomic force microscopes. The scrutinization strongly indicates that the adhesion improvement is most likely due to direct chemical bonds formed between ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) molecules and photo-oxidized OTS monolayer during a vapor phase polymerization reaction. The investigation also discovered that the feature size of the film can be chemically controlled by the reaction between OTS and reactive atomic oxygen gases, and the patterned films generally show a noticeably good electrical conductivity (approximately 500 S/cm at merely approximately 100 nm thick film). These results successfully demonstrate that the patterned PEDOT nanofilms are qualified enough to be employed as an electrode component of an OTFT device since the electrode materials must show an electrical conductivity of at least 50 S/cm or higher.