A network pharmacology-based analysis of the main pharmacological pathways of Cardiospermum Halicacabum acting on Human Breast Cancer with computational and experimental validation

The discovery of medicines based on natural products is thriving in the world. India is rich in medicinal plants, which are known to treat various diseases. One among Cardiospermum halicacabum or balloon wine is a climbing plant. It belongs to the family Sapindaceae and it’s known for various pharmacological activities. In total 170 active ingredients were curated from the Collective Molecular Activities of Useful Plants(CMAUP) platform and literature research is funneled for >50% drug-likeness via BIOVIA Discovery studio small molecule tool. The OMIM, Therapeutic Targets database, DrugBank and GeneCard were used to establish a database of breast cancer targets. The interactive compound-gene target was created with Cytoscape software (Version 3.6.1). Further, the protein-protein interaction network was mapped with the STRING database, and the related protein interaction relationship was analyzed. KEGG enrichment and Gene Ontology functional analysis for main drug targets pathways are involved Estrogen signaling pathway, Ras signaling pathway, and Proteoglycans in cancer. Finally, molecular docking of the active ingredients with the primary drug target was carried out. Also, the cell line study was carried out in human breast cancer cell lines MCF7 to investigate the level of cytotoxicity.