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Frequency: Quarterly
ISSN: 1553-3468 (Print)
ISSN: 1558-6332 (Online)
Research Article Open Access

UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS and Bioinformatics Association Analysis Reveals the Pharmacodynamic Flavonoids in Scutellaria barbata and the Underlying Anti-Colorectal Cancer Mechanism

Yi-Jie Cheng1,2, Xin-Yun Du2, Rui-Huan Chen1, Jing-Yuan Xu2, Ai-Guo Zhu1, Bo Jiang2 and Xia Tian1
  • 1 Department of Pharmacy, Changshu No.1 People’s Hospital, Changshu Hospital Affiliated to Soochow University, Changshu, China
  • 2 School of Biology and Food Engineering, Changshu Institute of Technology, Changshu, China

Abstract

Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is one of the most common and deadly malignancies worldwide, with no safe and effective drugs. The flavonoid in Scutellaria Barbata D. Don (SB) showed a good therapeutic effect on CRC. However, the pharmacodynamic substances and underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated which limited its development and application. This study aimed to identify the main flavonoid in SB and explore the underlying mechanism. A total of 10 flavonoid aglycones identified by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS were screened out as candidate compounds with good drug-likeness. By using the predicted targets of candidate compounds for CRC treatment, KEGG pathway analysis enriched 5 CRC-related pathways. Further analysis revealed that targets mapped to the five selected pathways were mainly correlated to the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. The key targets were AKT1, VEGFA, EGFR, SRC, and MTOR. Molecular docking combined with the RNA sequencing analysis on CRC patients validated the high potential binding ability of candidate compounds to differentially expressed targets in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Collectively, this study revealed that the flavonoid aglycones in SB may be the key ingredients contributing to its CRC treatment function and they exerted the CRC treatment effect by synergistic effect of multiple targets mainly belonging to the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.

American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Volume 19 No. 4, 2023, 298-320

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajbbsp.2023.298.320

Submitted On: 22 June 2023 Published On: 14 November 2023

How to Cite: Cheng, Y., Du, X., Chen, R., Xu, J., Zhu, A., Jiang, B. & Tian, X. (2023). UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS and Bioinformatics Association Analysis Reveals the Pharmacodynamic Flavonoids in Scutellaria barbata and the Underlying Anti-Colorectal Cancer Mechanism. American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 19(4), 298-320. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajbbsp.2023.298.320

Open AccessCopyright: © 2023 Yi-Jie Cheng, Xin-Yun Du, Rui-Huan Chen, Jing-Yuan Xu, Ai-Guo Zhu, Bo Jiang and Xia Tian. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Keywords

  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Scutellaria barbata
  • UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS
  • Bioinformatics Analysis
  • PI3K-Akt Signaling Pathway