Echinacoside as a Novel Ferroptosis Inducer in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Mechanistic Insights from TP53/SLC7A11/GPX4 Pathway Modulation

Despite the known antitumor properties of echinacoside (ECH), its specific role and mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) require in-depth exploration. Our study aimed to decipher the mechanism of ECH against HCC through a multi-disciplinary strategy. We first identified tumor protein p53 (TP53) as a key mediator and ferroptosis as a critical process, through network pharmacology and enrichment analyses. The direct interaction between ECH and TP53 was validated by molecular docking and dynamics simulations. In vitro assessments demonstrated that ECH suppresses HCC proliferation by activating ferroptosis, marked by increased intracellular Fe²⁺, lipid peroxidation (LPO), and malondialdehyde (MDA), alongside reduced glutathione (GSH). The ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 notably attenuated ECH's effects, confirming ferroptosis as the primary mode of cell death. Further mechanistic investigation revealed that ECH acts through the TP53/solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11)/glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4) pathway. These results collectively identify ECH as a promising ferroptosis-inducing agent for HCC therapy via TP53 activation.