Assessing the Therapeutic Efficacy of Xihuang Pill in Lung Adenocarcinoma by Single-Cell Raman Spectroscopy

Xihuang Pill (XHP), a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound formula, exhibits antitumor activity, yet its therapeutic potential and underlying molecular mechanism against lung adenocarcinoma remain elusive. In this study, single-cell Raman spectroscopy (SCRS) was employed to investigate the effects and molecular mechanisms of XHP on human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Results demonstrated that XHP inhibited the metabolic activity of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, impaired cellular integrity, and induced structural remodeling of lipids and proteins accompanied by characteristic spectral shifts. Collectively, these alterations led to metabolic reprogramming in tumor cells. Pharmacological prediction and experimental validation indicated that prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) is a relevant target mediating the pharmacological effects of XHP: XHP downregulated the expression of PTGS2, while overexpression of PTGS2 attenuated the therapeutic effects of XHP. This study provides direct, single-cell-level spectroscopic evidence for the efficacy of XHP against lung adenocarcinoma and reveals a PTGS2-associated mechanism, offering new insights for the development of TCM-based therapies for lung adenocarcinoma.