A Network Pharmacology Approach to Investigating the Mechanism of Sophorae Flavescentis Radix for the Treatment of Lung Cancer

Abstract In this study, the bioactive components and predictive targets of Sophorae Flavescentis Radix were investigated by network pharmacology analysis, so as to further elucidate its potential biological mechanism in treating lung cancer. The targets corresponding to lung cancer were obtained by OMIM and Genecards. By intersecting with the targets of Sophorae Flavescentis Radix and lung cancer, the Sophorae Flavescentis Radix-lung cancer targets were obtained. Protein-protein interaction network was constructed by an online database STRING and hub genes were screened by Cytoscape 3.7.0 software. ClusterProfiler package was used to analyze Gene ontology (GO) and KEGG enrichment of the targets in R. A total of 45 bioactive components were screened from Sophorae Flavescentis Radix, corresponding to 482 Sophorae Flavescentis Radix targets and 25019 lung cancer targets. According to the GO and KEGG enrichment analysis, Sophorae Flavescentis Radix played a therapeutic role in treating lung cancer via proteoglycans lung cancer, human cytomegalovirus infection, microRNAs in cancer, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, etc. Seven hub genes (IL6, CASP3, EGFR, VEGFA, MYC, CCND1 and ESR1) were screened by degree algorithm. In a word, the results of this study may provide novel insights into the mechanisms of Sophorae Flavescentis Radix in treatment of lung cancer.