Combination of Diosmetin With Chrysin Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma Through Inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR/NF-кB Signaling Pathway: TCGA Analysis, Molecular Docking, Molecular Dynamics, In Vitro Experiment

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most prevalent malignant tumor. Hepatocellular carcinogenesis is closely linked to apoptosis, autophagy, and inflammation. Diosmetin and chrysin, are two flavonoid compounds, exhibit anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties. In this study, the TCGA database was utilized to identify differentially expressed genes between normal subjects and HCC patients. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics analyses were employed to assess the binding affinity of chrysin and diosmetin to key proteins in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR/NF-κB signaling pathway. Western blotting and RT-qPCR were used to measure the protein and gene expression within this pathway. The results indicated that HCC patients had elevated levels of PI3K, AKT, mTOR, and P65 proteins compared to normal subjects, which adversely affected patient survival. Molecular docking and dynamics studies demonstrated that diosmetin and chrysin are effectively bound to these four proteins. In vitro experiments revealed that the combination of diosmetin and chrysin could induce apoptosis, enhance autophagy, reduce inflammatory mediator production, and improve the tumor cell microenvironment by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR/NF-κB signaling pathway. Notably, the synergy score for the combination of diosmetin (25 μM) and chrysin (10 μM) was 16. Thus, the diosmetin-chrysin combination shows promise as an effective therapeutic approach for hepatocellular carcinoma due to its strong synergistic effect.

Keywords: PI3K/AKT/mTOR/NF‐кB signaling pathway; apoptosis; autophagy; chrysin; diosmetin; hepatocellular carcinoma; molecular dynamics.