Network-Guided Identification of Plant-Derived Modulators of Stress-Adaptive Signalling in Neuroblastoma

Abstract

Neuroblastoma is characterized by noticeable resistance to chemotherapy, largely driven by the ability of tumour cells to reorganize stress-adaptive signalling networks rather than relying on single oncogenic drivers. We conducted a study to investigate the pharmacological mode of action of doxorubicin in modifying adaptive signalling pathways in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, and whether the capacity of plant metabolites can exploit emergent biochemical vulnerabilities. Transcriptomic profiling through RNA sequencing conducted 48 h post-doxorubicin exposure unveiled the organized disruption of pathways linked with amyloidogenic processes, oncogenic signalling pathways, oxidative stress, and DNA repair. The protein–protein interactions, coupled with Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway evaluations, revealed five network-central-hubs: BRAF, GSK3β, PARP1, BACE1, and MAOB. Structural docking integrated with 200 ns molecular dynamics simulations illustrated binding stability across multiple targets driven by three metabolites, Lactol binding to BRAF (−54.13 kcal/mol) and MAOB (−39.08 kcal/mol), Amino(1H-indol-2-yl)acetic acid to BACE1 (−41.07 kcal/mol) and GSK3β (−47.38 kcal/mol), and Quercetin-3-(6″-malonyl-glucoside) binding to PARP1 (−46.03 kcal/mol). In vitro Cell Counting Kit-8 proliferation assays validated the significant anti-neuroblastoma efficacy, with the lowest IC50 (0.2397 µM) being exhibited by Amino(1H-indol-2-yl)acetic acid, followed by Lactol (1.226 µM) and Quercetin-3-(6″-malonyl-glucoside) (1.301 µM), which mirrored the cytotoxic action of doxorubicin (1.306 µM). These results suggest that plant-derived metabolites may interact with stress-adaptive signalling pathways connected with neuroblastoma. However, direct experimental validation of target engagement and pathway modulation will be required to confirm these predicted interactions.