Pharmacological mechanisms on the anti-breast cancer property of Coix lacryma-jobi : A network-based analysis

Breast cancer is considered as one of the three most common cancers around the world and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Coix lachrymal jobi, commonly known as Job’s tears or adlay has been reported to possess anti-cancer properties. Despite evidences provided by clinical data, the usage of Coix lacryma-jobi in treating cancer, particularly breast cancer, has been scarce. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the pharmacological mechanisms underlying its anti-breast cancer property using various network pathway analyses. Bioactive compounds from Coix lacryma-jobi and its potential target genes were obtained from SymMap. Breast cancer-related target genes were collected from CTD. Protein-protein interaction network was analyzed using the STRING database. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were performed using DAVID to further explore the mechanisms of Coix lacryma-jobi in treating breast cancer. PPI and compound-target-pathway were visualized using Cytoscape. A total of 26 bioactive compounds, 201 corresponding targets, 36625 breast cancer-associated targets were obtained, and 200 common targets were considered potential therapeutic targets. The 9 bioactive compounds identified were berberine, oleic acid, beta-sitosterol, sitosterol, linoleic acid, berberrubine, jatrorrhizine, thalifendine, and stigmasterol. The identified 5 core targets were ESR1, JUN, MAPK14, and RXRA. Coix lacryma-jobi targets enriched in GO terms were mostly involved in regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter, drug response, steroid hormone receptor activity, and protein binding. This study elucidates on the pharmacological underpinnings on the potency of adlay against breast cancer. Its subsequent drug development will be worth a step forward for a breast cancer-free society.