Network pharmacology of lycopene and Molecular Docking with Top Hub Proteins

Background Lycopene is one of the potent antioxidants in the family of carotenoids that scavenges Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) singlet oxygen which has been associated with various pathological consequences including atherosclerosis myocardial infarction, and stroke and Sex hormone-induced cancers like breast cancer, endometrial cancer and prostate cancer. As multiple pathways are involved in the manifestation of aforementioned diseases initiated at the behest of ROS, it would be appropriate to understand the likely pathways triggered by the ROS and its eventual control by the action of lycopene through network pharmacology study, a robust paradigm for drug discovery via modulation of multiple targets. Results 124 proteins were mined from CTD and STITCH databases, which showed some relationship with lycopene, among them strong association was found with TP53, STAT3 and CDK1 proteins. Lycopene showed a strong affinity with these proteins by hydrophobic interactions. Conclusion The topological analysis of a network created by the lycopene relevant genes showed its role as a potential therapeutic agent in cancer which further requires in vitro and in vivo studies to confirm these findings.