Shikonin Anti-Cancer Mechanism: 98 Overlapping Drug and Disease Targets

A 2026 study by Wen-wei Gong presents data from a network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis of the natural compound shikonin against renal cell carcinoma. The dataset includes 374 shikonin targets, 1,087 RCC-related targets, and 98 overlapping genes, with validation from in vitro cellular experiments. It was published on figshare under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Validate protein-protein interaction networks based on the 98 overlapping target genes identified.
• Perform molecular docking simulations based on the binding affinity data for six core targets (SRC, PIK3CA, PIK3CB, PIK3CD, PTPN11, PIK3R1).
• Analyze signaling pathway enrichment based on the GO and KEGG results for HIF-1 and IL-17 pathways.
• Correlate in vitro assay results based on the dose-dependent proliferation and apoptosis data from Caki-1 and 786-O cell lines.

Strengths

• Includes results from multiple methodological approaches: network pharmacology, molecular docking, and in vitro cellular assays.
• Identifies a specific set of 6 core protein targets and 98 overlapping genes for mechanistic investigation.
• Provides western blot validation data for protein expression changes related to the HIF-1 signaling pathway.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific computational tasks.
• The 9.5 MB file size suggests the dataset is relatively small, potentially limiting the scope of raw experimental data.

Provenance

Source

Wen-wei Gong via figshare

Collection Method

Data generated through computational screening (PharmMapper, SwissTargetPrediction, OMIM, GeneCards) and in vitro experiments (cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, western blot).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-20 12:38:36; freshness should be verified.