Systematic analysis of the mechanism of aged citrus peel (Chenpi) in oral squamous cell carcinoma treatment via network pharmacology, molecular docking and experimental validation

Yu Z, Wu Y, Ma Y, Cheng YH, Song G, Zhang F · Journal of Functional Foods · 2022 April

DOI 10.1016/j.jff.2022.105012

Objective

To investigate the potential mechanisms of aged citrus peel in treating oral squamous cell carcinoma using network pharmacology.

Conclusions

The study concluded that tangeretin, the most crucial active ingredient in aged citrus peel, showed anticancer effects in SCC25 cells through inhibiting proliferation, inducing apoptosis, and regulating core gene expression, while having lower toxicity to HOK cells.

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Insights

Aged citrus peel (Chen Pi) potentially has anticancer effects and may be utilised for treating oral squamous cell carcinoma.

The methodology involved using network pharmacology to examine the potential mechanisms of Chenpi in treating oral squamous cell carcinoma. Tangeretin was identified as the key active ingredient in Chenpi through the creation of the component-target-disease network. The researchers further conducted protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis and survival analysis identifying PIK3R1, ESR1, and CDK1 as core genes. Pathway enrichment analysis further indicated that PI3K-AKT is the most critical pathway. Molecular docking was employed to predict the linkage of targets and compounds. In observing the results, it was shown in vitro that tangeretin obstructs cell proliferation, halts the cell cycle in S phase, encourages cell death, and controls core gene expression in SCC25 cells, whilst exhibiting lower toxicity to HOK cells. Hence, the study builds the basis for the application of Chenpi in treating oral squamous cell carcinoma.