Molecular mechanisms of the Xiao-chai-hu-tang on chronic stress-induced colorectal cancer growth based on an integrated network pharmacology and RNA sequencing approach with experimental validation

XCHT significantly inhibited CRC growth under chronic stress in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, XCHT suppressed the expression levels of glycolysis associated enzymes and inflammatory factors caused by chronic stress. Moreover, XCHT significantly mitigated the activity of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling which was activated by chronic stress induced IL-6. The experiment was divided into a control group (subcutaneous tumor group of colorectal cancer), a stress group (subcutaneous tumor group of colorectal cancer+chronic stress group), a low-dose group of Xiaochaihu decoction (subcutaneous tumor group of colorectal cancer+chronic stress group+low-dose intervention of Xiaochaihu decoction), and a high-dose group of Xiaochaihu decoction (subcutaneous tumor group of colorectal cancer+chronic stress group+high-dose intervention of Xiaochaihu decoction). The subcutaneous tumor tissues of each group were collected and subjected to RNA Seq detection, immunohistochemistry, WB, PCR and other analyses. And perform primary cell culture on the tissue for cell experiments.