Bioinformatics and experimental validation of mechanisms underlying lenvatinib therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma

Purpose: To investigate and validate the therapeutic targets of lenvatinib in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), using bioinformatics and in vitro experiments. Methods: The potential core targets of lenvatinib were identified through screening and analysis of various databases. The core targets were validated using in vitro experiments. Results: The results showed that lenvatinib significantly affected pro-survival signals of MAPK signaling pathway which activate and regulate a range of cellular activities. Molecular docking revealed that key proteins may be the key targets of lenvatinib in its systematic anti-tumor effect on HCC. Results from quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed that lenvatinib regulated the expressions of key genes associated with HCC. Conclusion: The findings of this investigation provide a new insight for further development of lenvatinib as a drug for HCC treatment.