Mechanistic insights into the anticancer effects of Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Ten. ex Breitenb. and Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. ex S. H. Qiu & al. on papillary thyroid carcinoma: A network pharmacology approach

This study aims to elucidate the mechanisms of action of Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Ten. ex Breitenb. and Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. ex S. H. Qiu & al. (PAL) in treating papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) using bioinformatics and network analysis. Compounds in PAL were identified from the HERB database. Potential herbal targets were predicted using the SwissADME and SwissTargetPrediction platforms. Differential expression genes related to PTC were extracted from the GEO database and protein-protein interaction networks were constructed using the String database and Cytoscape software. Additionally, gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses were conducted, and core compound-target interactions were validated through molecular docking. Effective components identified included 32 from Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Ten. ex Breitenb. and 105 from Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. ex S. H. Qiu & al., comprising 825 targets. A total of 2155 differential expression genes related to PTC were selected using GEO2R software, with 71 therapeutic targets identified. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses suggest that PAL may exert effects through cancer-related pathways and signal transduction processes. Molecular docking indicated high binding affinity between several compounds and their targets. Specific active components in PAL may act through various mechanisms on PTC, offering scientific bases for further drug development and treatment strategies.