Exploring the mechanism of cordycepin combined with doxorubicin in treating glioblastoma based on network pharmacology and biological verification

BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma is the most common and fatal primary malignant tumor in the central nervous system, and the prognosis is poor. Currently, there are no effective treatments for glioblastoma. Cordycepin is a natural active substance with significant anticancer activity and doxorubicin is a broad-spectrum anticancer drug. Cordycepin administered with doxorubicin is a potential drug combination for the treatment of glioblastoma. However, the mechanism of action for this drug combination has not yet been elucidated. AIM OF THE STUDY: To explore the complex mechanism of cordycepin combined with doxorubicin against glioblastoma using network pharmacology and biological verification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used an MTT assay, colony formation assay, and scratch healing to detect the growth, proliferation, and migration of LN-229, U251 and T98G cells. Putative targets and the potential mechanism of action for the drug combination in glioblastoma were obtained through online databases, network construction, and enrichment analyses. We verified the expression of EMT-related genes and identified important therapeutic targets by western blot. RESULTS: In this study, the combination of doxorubicin and cordycepin was found to significantly inhibit cell proliferation and migration and can induce apoptosis. These effects are better together than with either drug alone. The drug combination inhibited EMT by upregulating the expression of E-cadherin protein and downregulating the expression of N-cadherin, ZEB1, and Twist1 proteins. There were 71 potential targets for the drug combination in glioblastoma, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome analysis suggested that the anticancer process may be mediated by proteoglycans in cancer, the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway, microRNA in cancer, pathways in cancer, and other pathways. To study the molecular mechanism of anticancer activity, we detected the expression of target proteins with downregulated expression of NFKB1, MAPK8, MYC, and MMP-9 proteins and upregulated expression of cleaved caspase 3 that promoted the apoptosis of LN-229 cells. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the drug combination of doxorubicin and cordycepin effectively inhibits the growth and proliferation of LN-229 cells through multiple targets and multiple pathways, and the combination inhibits cell invasion and migration by regulating the EMT switch of tumor cells. Our findings provide new ideas about, and a theoretical basis for, the treatment of glioblastoma.