Exploring the mechanism of vitamin C on the co-expressed genes of papillary thyroid carcinoma and Epstein-Barr virus based on bioinformatics, network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis

作者：Dongliang Shi, Liang Chen, Chenhao Li, Mengmeng Yang, Wenhua Yang, Guozhong Cui, Jinzhao Liu, Qianqian Chen · 发表于：Discover Oncology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1007/s12672-025-02034-z · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Vitamin C and Antioxidants Research、Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress、Vitamin D Research Studies

The study aims to evaluate the role and mechanism of action of vitamin C as an anti- Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) therapeutic agent. The PTC/EBV-associated genes were obtained by intersection and further screen out hub genes to construct a prognostic model. The relationship between PTC/EBV-related genes and core genes and immune infiltration was analyzed, respectively. Finally, the core targets of vitamin C against PTC/EBV were screened, and the binding sites were determined by molecular docking with vitamin C. The diagnostic efficiency and prognostic value of this model was good. The prognostic model performed well in male, female, classical, T3-4, N0, and N1 subgroups. Core genes STAT1 and APOE were highly expressed and FGF7 was lowly expressed in PTC. The core genes STAT1, APOE and FGF7 were significantly correlated with a variety of immune cells. 263 vitamin C-related targets were screened by the database, and 11 cross genes between vitamin C and PTC/EBV were identified. 4 molecular targets with the best performance, LGALS3, MMP9, CTSB and CTSS, were identified by topological analysis, and the binding energies were all $$<$$ -5.0 kcal/mol. Our prognostic model has good diagnostic and prognostic effects and has potential value of basic research. This study for the first time revealed the related molecular functions of vitamin C and the molecular targets for the treatment of PTC/EBV.