Molecular Targets and Mechanisms of Hedyotis diffusa Willd. for Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Treatment Based on Network Pharmacology and Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis

Background: Hedyotis diffusa Willd. (HDW) is a common anticancer herbal medicine in China, and its therapeutic effectiveness has been demonstrated in a range of cancer patients. There is no consensus about the therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms of HDW, which contains many active ingredients. Aim: To clarify the mechanism of HDW for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), we utilized network pharmacology and weighted gene co-expression network analysis methods (WGCNA). Methods: The gene modules that were linked with the clinical features of EAC were obtained through the WGCNA method. Then, the potential target genes were retrieved through the network pharmacology method in order to determine the targets of the active components. After enrichment analysis, a variety of signaling pathways with significant ratios of target genes were found, including regulation of trans-synaptic signaling, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and modulation of chemical synaptic transmission. By means of protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, we have successfully identified the hub genes, which were AR, CNR1, GRIK1, MAPK10, MAPT, PGR and PIK3R1. Result: Our study employed molecular docking simulations to evaluate the binding affinity of the active components with the hub gene. The identified active anticancer constituents in HDW are scopoletol, quercetin, ferulic acid, coumarin, and trans-4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol. Conclusion: Our findings shed light on the molecular underpinnings of HDW in the treatment of EAC and hold great promise for the identification of potential HDW compounds and biomarkers for EAC therapy.