Exploration of the scutellarin effect on breast cancer based on network pharmacology

Background: Breast cancer (BC) has a high metastasis, recurrence, and mortality rate, which is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the female population. Scutellarin (SC) is a natural flavonoid that shows protective effects in multiple cancers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the potential mechanism of SC action in the treatment of BC based on network pharmacology. Methods: The keywords “breast cancer,” “breast cancer stem cell (BCSCs),” “scutellarin” were entered into GeneCards, TCMSP, HERB, ETCM, and other databases to obtain the protein targets of BC, BCSCs, and SC, and then those targets were imported into jvenn to obtain 20 intersection genes and a Venn diagram. Subsequently, 20 intersection genes were imported into STRING to construct a protein-protein interaction network, which was modified by Cytoscape software. Next, 20 target proteins were imported into the DAVID database to obtain protein annotation and pathway information, which was visualized through GO and KEGG enrichment analysis on the Weishengxin platform. Finally, the target regulatory network of BC-BCSCs-SC-KEGG pathways were constructed to visualize the regulatory relationship among BC, BCSCs, and SC, and 10 core targets were screened out for future experimental validation. Results: A total of 14,011 BC-related targets, 460 BCSC-related targets, and 101 SC-related targets were collected. Venn analysis identified 20 shared targets. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed 67 significantly enriched pathways (p < 0.05), and GO analysis identified 105 biological processes, 10 cellular components, and 41 molecular functions (p < 0.05). The 10 core targets included ESR1, HIF1A, STAT3, TNF, MTOR, AKT1, HSP90AA1, CASP8, CEBPB, and NFE2L2. Conclusions: This study provides a systematic network pharmacology analysis of scutellarin’s potential anti-breast cancer mechanisms. The identification of key targets and signaling pathways lays a theoretical foundation for future experimental and clinical validation.