Exploring molecular targets: herbal isolates in cervical cancer therapy

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Molecular Biology
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Cervical cancer (CxCa) is a major global health issue with limited treatment options for recurrent cases.
• Chemotherapy offers incremental survival benefits, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies like molecular targeted therapy.
• Herbal compounds, including myricetin, have shown potential in preliminary CxCa investigations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify key genes and pathways involved in cervical cancer progression using a systems biology approach.
• To evaluate the prognostic significance of identified genes in CxCa.
• To assess the therapeutic potential of selected herbal compounds, particularly myricetin, against CxCa.

Main Methods:

• Systems biology analysis to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in CxCa tissues.
• Construction and analysis of a protein-protein interaction network (PPIN) to identify central genes.
• Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and molecular docking to assess prognostic markers and herbal compound binding affinity.

Main Results:

• Overexpression of MYC, IL6, JUN, RRM2, and VEGFA correlated with adverse CxCa prognosis.
• The transcription factor CEBPD was identified as a key regulator of these prognostic markers.
• Molecular docking confirmed strong binding affinity between myricetin and the CEBPD DNA binding site.

Conclusions:

• Pivotal genes and pathways driving CxCa malignancy were elucidated.
• CEBPD is a potential therapeutic target for CxCa treatment.
• Myricetin demonstrates potential as a molecular targeted therapy for cervical cancer by interacting with CEBPD.