Advances on mechanisms and structural classification of Chinese herbal monomers against hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 1 Schematic overview of key mechanisms in hepatocarcinogenesis and their modulation by Chinese herbal monomers. It illustrates the core biological processes including tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, cell cycle progression, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, angiogenesis, metastasis, drug resistance and immune evasion, as well as the intervention targets of Chinese herbal monomers in these processes. EMP: Endothelial microparticles; STAT3: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; MMP: Matrix metalloproteinase; JAK: Janus kinase; IL-6: Interleukin-6; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; PI3K: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; AKT: Protein kinase B; mTOR: Mechanistic target of rapamycin; MDSC: Myeloid-derived suppressor cell; VM: Vasculogenic mimicry.

Figure 2 Heatmap of associations between structurally classified Chinese herbal monomers and key signaling pathways in hepatocellular carcinoma. The heatmap shows the regulatory intensity of different types of Chinese herbal monomers (saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, quinones, etc.) on classical signaling pathways (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B /mechanistic target of rapamycin, nuclear factor-kappa B, mitogen-activated protein kinases, Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription, Wnt/β-catenin, etc.) in Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Figure 3 Integrative network of multi-target actions of Chinese herbal monomers against hepatocellular carcinoma. It summarizes the core signaling pathways regulated by Chinese herbal monomers and their biological effects, including inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing cell death, suppressing angiogenesis and metastasis, reversing drug resistance, and remodeling tumor immune microenvironment. RAS: Rat sarcoma virus; RAF: Rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma; MEK: Mitogen-activated protein kinase; ERK: Extracellular signal-regulated kinases; PI3K: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; AKT: Protein kinase B; mTOR: Mechanistic target of rapamycin; IL-6: Interleukin-6; JAK: Janus kinase; STAT3: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; INF-α: Interferon-alpha; IKK: I kappa B kinase; NF-κB: Nuclear factor-kappa B; IκB: I kappa B; MAPK: Mitogen-activated protein kinases.