Exploring the mechanism of action of bei shashen-maidong in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer based on network pharmacology and experimental validation

Beishashen(BSS)and Maidong(MD)are commonly used Medicine right for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC),but their specific mechanism of action is not clear.In this study,network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques were used to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the therapeutic effects of BSS-MD on NSCLC and to experimentally validate some of the targets.The network pharmacology approach,including active ingredient and target screening,drug-compound-target network construction,protein-protein interaction(PPI)network,enrichment analysis,and molecular docking,was used to investigate the mechanism of action of Beisashen and Maitong on NSCLC.First,the active components of BSS-MD and their targets were predicted,of which 423 targets interacted with NSCLC targets.Then,network pharmacology showed that Stigmasterol,Quercetin,Alloisoimperatorin,Isoimperatorin,Beta-sitosterol were the core components of BSS-MD,and PLK1,HSP90AB1,and CDK1 were the key therapeutic targets.KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the mechanism of action of BSS-MD in NSCLC treatment was related to the cell cycle.Then we further performed experimental validation.CCK-8 assay showed that BSS-MD inhibited LEWIS cell viability and promoted apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner.qPCR assay,immunofluorescence,and protein blotting experiments demonstrated that compared with the control group and the control group,the expression of PLK1,HSP90AB1,and CDK1 mRNAs and proteins were reduced in the treatment group(P<0.01).Therefore,we conclude that BSS-MD can block cell cycle progression by inhibiting the expression of PLK1,CDK1,and HSP90AB1 mRNAs and proteins to inhibit lung cancer cell growth and promote apoptosis,and emphasize that BSS-MD are promising adjuvants for NSCLC treatment.

Metal-organic cages containing two types of binding sites:trapping hydrocarbon gas in solution

The design and synthesis of artificial molecular containers for the encapsulation of hydrocarbon gases to study their host-guest chemistry are highly important for potential application in gas storage,separation,and understanding of their biological functions.In this work,we report the subcomponent self-assembly of four cubic Zn_(8)L_(12)Br_(4)(HL=N-(4-R)-1-(5-methyl-1Himidazole-4-yl)methanimine)cages with good solubility in chloroform,which are capable of binding hydrocarbon gases including methane,ethane,and ethene in solution at ambient temperature.Two types of gas binding sites(one is in the cavity,and the other is at the window)are discovered in these cages,which are documented by nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)spectra and density functional theory(DFT)calculations.Their performance of encapsulation of hydrocarbon gases can be tuned by carefully adjusting substituent groups.These metal-organic cages containing two types of binding sites provide new artificial models to mimic the structures and functions of biological systems in binding and transforming hydrocarbon gases.