Network pharmacology of ginsenoside Rg3 in the treatment of ovarian cancer: Mechanism of action and experimental verification

The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of action of ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3) in the treatment of ovarian cancer (OC). We used a network pharmacology approach to identify overlapping targets of OC- and Rg3-related genes. The overlapping targets were used for enrichment analysis to construct protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and identify hub genes. Significantly enriched pathways were validated using in vitro experiments. After identifying the relevant targets of OC and Rg3, 53 overlapping targets were identified. Enrichment analysis revealed that the PI3K-Akt, Ras, Rap1 pathways were significantly enriched. Ten hub genes (AKT1, MMP9, STAT3, JUN, MMP2, EGFR, FGF2, PPARG, KDR, and HSP90AA1) were identified in the PPI network. In vitro experiments revealed that Rg3 exerted therapeutic effects by promoting the apoptosis of OC cells and inhibiting the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. The combination of network pharmacology and in vitro experimental validation revealed that Rg3 may play a therapeutic role in the treatment of OC by promoting the apoptosis of OC cells via the inhibition of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. This provides a new idea for the clinical application of Rg3 in the treatment of OC.