A network pharmacology approach to explore Dahuang on colon cancer

Hebei North University, 075000, Zhangjiakou, China

^* Corresponding author:wangshu388@163.com

Abstract

To investigate the mechanism of action of Rhubarb (Dahuang) in the treatment of colon cancer by network pharmacological method. TCMSP database was used to screen the active components and action targets of Rhubarb, Genecards database was used to screen the relevant action targets of colon cancer, Venny 2.1.0 software was used to make the intersection of Rhubarb and colon cancer, and the potential targets of Rhubarb for the treatment of colon cancer were obtained.Cytoscape 3.7.2 software and the STRING database were used to construct the component-target network of Rhubarb active components and colon cancer related targets. The important targets were obtained by analyzing the network, and the GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis was performed on them using Metascape database. Sixty active ingredients including EUPATIN, Mutatochrome, Physciondiglucoside, Procyanidin B-5,3’ -o-gallate, rhin were screened from Rhubarb, which could act on 61 colon cancer related targets.Among them, 13 targets, including PTGS2, IL1B and Bax, are important targets, which may be involved in various biological processes such as the response to the regulation of colon cancer nutritional level, the homeostasis of multicellular organisms and the regulation of peptide secretion through the regulation of PI3K and other pathways. Rhubarb can participate in the treatment of colon cancer through multi-target and multi-pathway.