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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Genet.
Sec. Cancer Genetics and Oncogenomics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1560172
This article is part of the Research Topic High-throughput Sequencing-based Investigation of Chronic Disease Markers and Mechanisms, Volume II View all 9 articles
Multi-omics analysis reveals Jianpi formula-derived bioactive peptide-YG-22 potentially inhibited colorectal cancer via regulating epigenetic reprogram and signal pathway regulation
Provisionally accepted
Jun Wang 1 Lijuan Zhu 2
Yuan Yuan Li 3 Mingming Ding 1
Xiyu Wang 1
Bo Xiong 1 Hongyu Chen 1 Lisheng Chang 1 Wenli Chen 1
Bo Han 4
Jun Lu 5
Qin Shi 1*- 1 Shanghai Baoshan Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai, China
- 2 Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
- 3 Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, Beijing, China
- 4 Tongren Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 5 Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, Beijing Municipality, China
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide, often treated with chemotherapy despite its limitations, including adverse effects and resistance. The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Jianpi formula has been demonstrated to improve efficacy of chemotherapy, however the underlying mechanisms still need to be explored. In this study, we aim to screen bioactive peptides derived from the blood of CRC patients through peptidomics and explore the molecular mechanisms of the candidate peptides in the inhibition of CRC using multi-omics analysis. Differential peptides were identified in plasma samples from patients treated with chemotherapy alone and those receiving the combined therapy. Among these, YG-22 exhibited the strongest cytotoxic effect on HCT116 cells, reducing viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Transcriptome analysis highlighted the CRC treatment of YG-22 is involved in modulation of key pathways of lysosome-mediated degradation and apoptosis, while metabolomic profiling indicated disruptions in tumor-supportive metabolic pathways. Additionally, chromatin accessibility and histone modifications suggested epigenetic reprogramming induced by YG-22. These findings demonstrate that combining chemotherapy with TCM enriches the molecular landscape and generates bioactive peptides with strong antitumor activity. Furthermore, this study also lays the foundation for further development of peptide-based therapies and highlights the value of combining traditional and modern therapeutic strategies for CRC management.
Keywords: colorectal cancer, Bioactive peptide, YG-22, Jianpi Formula, multi-omics
Received: 15 Jan 2025; Accepted: 10 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhu, Li, Ding, Wang, Xiong, Chen, Chang, Chen, Han, Lu and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qin Shi, Shanghai Baoshan Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.