Mechanism of urolithin A in treating colon cancer on network pharmacology and molecular docking
Objective To investigate the main biological processes and signaling pathways of mechanism urolithin A in treatment of colon cancer through network pharmacology and molecular docking,and elucidate its action. Methods To predict the potential targets of urolithin A by SwissTargetPrediction,Targets SUP-PRED,and Cbligand database. To obtain the target information of colon cancer through DisGeNET,OMIM,Gene Cards. The intersection targets of urolithin A and colon cancer were obtained by Venn diagram. PPI network of intersection targets was constructed by STRING database. Perform network topology analysis on the target genes selected from the STRING database using the Cytoscape software to identify key target genes. David database was used to analyze the GO and KEGG pathway analysis of intersection targets. Finally,mechanism of action of urolithin A and key targets was further clarified by molecular docking. Results A total of 260 urolithin A targets were predicted,3289 colon cancer disease targets were obtained by screening and deduplication,and 108 intersection targets were finally obtained. Ten core targets were obtained,including protein kinase B1 (Akt1),epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR),Caspase 3 (CASP3),estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1),and cycloxygenase 2 (PTGS2). GO and KEGG enrichment analysis mainly urolithin A may play a role in treatment of colon cancer through pathways in cancer,proteoglycans in cancer. Results of molecular docking showed that the binding energy of urolithin A to key targets was less than-6.9 kcal/mol. Conclusion Urolithin A may regulate more pathways and more targets to play a role in treatment of colon cancer.