scholarly journals Natural Compound Modulates the Cervical Cancer Microenvironment—A Pharmacophore Guided Molecular Modelling Approaches

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shailima Rampogu ◽  
Doneti Ravinder ◽  
Smita Pawar ◽  
Keun Lee

Cervical cancer is regarded as one of the major burdens noticed in women next to breast cancer. Although, human papilloma viruses (HPVs) are regarded as the principal causative agents, they require certain other factors such as oestrogen hormone to induce cervical cancer. Aromatase is an enzyme that converts androgens into oestrogens and hindering this enzyme could subsequently hamper the formation of oestrogen thereby alleviating the disease. Accordingly, in the current investigation, a structure based pharmacophore was generated considering two proteins bearing the Protein Data Bank (PDB) codes 3EQM (pharm 1) and 3S7S (pharm 2), respectively. The two models were employed as the 3D query to screen the in-house built natural compounds database. The obtained 51 compounds were escalated to molecular docking studies to decipher on the binding affinities and to predict the quintessential binding modes which were affirmed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The compound has induced dose-dependent down regulation of PP2B, Nitric oxide synthase-2 (NOS2), and Interleukin 6 (IL-6) genes in the HeLa cells and has modulated the expression of apoptotic genes such as Bax, Bcl2, and caspases-3 at different concentrations. These results guide us to comprehend that the identified aromatase inhibitor was effective against the cervical cancer cells and additionally could server as scaffolds in designing new drugs.

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Chen ◽  
Zhao-Hui Hou ◽  
Zhe Dong ◽  
Chun-Dong Li

The effect of crocetin (C20H24O4) on methylcholanthrene- (MCA-) induced uterine cervical cancer in mice was studied in this paper. After the mice were treated orally with crocetin, maleic dialdehyde (MDA), polymorphonuclear cells (PMN), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) were examined by ELISA or immunohistochemistry. The inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activation inHeLacells was analyzed using fluorescence microscopy for light microscopic examination. The MCA mice showed a significant increase in plasma MDA, PMN, IL-1β, TNF-α, and nitrates levels. At the same time, the mRNA level of COX-2 inHeLacells was also significantly increased. These changes were attenuated by crocetin supplementation in the MCA mice. Crocetin supplementation in the MCA mice also showed protection against cervical cancer. These results suggest that crocetin may act as a chemopreventive and an anti-inflammatory agent.


Author(s):  
Manisha S. Phoujdar ◽  
Gourishankar R. Aland

Objective: CDK2 inhibitors are implicated in several carcinomas viz. Carcinoma of lung, bladder, sarcomas and retinoblastoma. Pyrazolopyrimidines, being purine bioisosters inhibit more than one type of kinase. In this study, we are studying some novel derivatives of 1H-pyrazolo [3,4d] pyrimidines not reported earlier. The objective of the present study is an attempt towards design and development of 1H-[3,4-] pyrazolo-pyrimidines as CDK2 inhibitors through rational drug design.Methods: The present study has been done on CDK2 structure, PDB ID, 3WBL, co-crystallized with ligand PDY from RCSB protein data bank. A series of seventeen 1H-Pyrazolo [3,4-d] pyrimidines feasible for synthesis was docked on the said CDK2 receptor using Auto Dock 4 version, 1.5.6. Outputs were exported to discovery studio 3.5 client for visual inspection of the binding modes and interactions of the compounds with amino acid residues in the active sites.Results: The results of docking studies revealed that the present series of 1H-Pyrazolo[3,4-d] pyrimidines is showing significant binding through hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic, pi and Van der waals interactions, similar to the ligand PDY. Some conserved H-bond interactions comparable to bioisosters and compounds presently under human trials were noted. Ki values predicted in silico also suggest that the series will show promising CDK2 inhibitory activity.Conclusion: The series designed and docked can be further developed by synthesis and in vitro and in vivo activity. The receptor inhibitory activity can also be checked by specific receptor assays.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1302
Author(s):  
Beata Niklas ◽  
Milena Jankowska ◽  
Dalia Gordon ◽  
László Béress ◽  
Maria Stankiewicz ◽  
...  

Animal venoms are considered as a promising source of new drugs. Sea anemones release polypeptides that affect electrical activity of neurons of their prey. Voltage dependent sodium (Nav) channels are the common targets of Av1, Av2, and Av3 toxins from Anemonia viridis and CgNa from Condylactis gigantea. The toxins bind to the extracellular side of a channel and slow its fast inactivation, but molecular details of the binding modes are not known. Electrophysiological measurements on Periplaneta americana neuronal preparation revealed differences in potency of these toxins to increase nerve activity. Av1 and CgNa exhibit the strongest effects, while Av2 the weakest effect. Extensive molecular docking using a modern SMINA computer method revealed only partial overlap among the sets of toxins’ and channel’s amino acid residues responsible for the selectivity and binding modes. Docking positions support earlier supposition that the higher neuronal activity observed in electrophysiology should be attributed to hampering the fast inactivation gate by interactions of an anemone toxin with the voltage driven S4 helix from domain IV of cockroach Nav channel (NavPaS). Our modelling provides new data linking activity of toxins with their mode of binding in site 3 of NavPaS channel.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanyan Jiang ◽  
Zhiqiang Tian ◽  
Jun Tang ◽  
Rongying Ou ◽  
Yunsheng Xu

Enhanced expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is associated with the pathogenic processes of various tumor types. COX-2 and iNOS expression in the immunomodulatory dendritic cells is mediated by the granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which is also expressed by cervical cancer cells; however, whether and how GM-CSF regulates COX-2 and iNOS expression in clinical cervical cancer cells remain unknown. In this study, we found that the COX-2 and iNOS expression was upregulated in the cervical cancer tissues and positively correlated with cancer metastasis and stage. About one-half of the cervical cancer tissues showed strong/moderate GM-CSF expression, while the normal cervical tissues showed >80% positive rate; no GM-CSFR protein was detectable on the cervical cancer cells. The GM-CSF expression was negatively correlated with the COX-2 and iNOS expression in the cervical cancer tissues and the functional negative regulatory effect of GM-CSF on COX-2/iNOS expression was demonstrated in various cervical cancer cell lines. Therefore, in cervical cancer cells, GM-CSF might contribute an antitumor response by inhibiting iNOS and COX-2 expression in a GM-CSFR independent manner.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Akbar Pasha ◽  
Divya Vishambhar Kumbhakar ◽  
Ravinder Doneti ◽  
Kiran Kumar ◽  
Gangappa Dharmapuri ◽  
...  

This work is aimed at investigating the expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in cervical cancer and identifying a potential iNOS inhibitor. The data mining studies performed advocated iNOS to be a promising biomarker for cancer prognosis, as it is highly overexpressed in several malignant cancers. The elevated iNOS was found to be associated with poor survival and increased tumor aggressiveness in cervical cancer. Immunohistochemical and RT-PCR investigations of iNOS showed significant upregulation of endogenous iNOS expression in the cervical tumor samples, thus making iNOS a potent target for decreasing tumor inflammation and aggressiveness. Andrographolide, a plant-derived diterpenoid lactone, is widely reported to be effective against infections and inflammation, causing no adverse side effects on humans. In the current study, we investigated the effect of andrographolide on the prognostic value of iNOS expression in cervical cancer, which has not been reported previously. The binding efficacy of andrographolide was analyzed by performing molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations. Multiple parameters were used to analyze the simulation trajectory, like root mean square deviation (RMSD), torsional degree of freedom, protein-root mean square fluctuations (P-RMSF), ligand RMSF, total number of intramolecular hydrogen bonds, secondary structure elements (SSE) of the protein, and protein complex with the time-dependent functions of MDS. Ligand-protein interactions revealed binding efficacy of andrographolide with tryptophan amino acid of iNOS protein. Cancer cell proliferation, cell migration, cell cycle analysis, and apoptosis-mediated cell death were assessed in vitro, post iNOS inhibition induced by andrographolide treatment (demonstrated by Western blot). Results. Andrographolide exhibited cytotoxicity by inhibiting the in vitro proliferation of cervical cancer cells and also abrogated the cancer cell migration. A significant increase in apoptosis was observed with increasing andrographolide concentration, and it also induced cell cycle arrest at G1-S phase transition. Our results substantiate that andrographolide significantly inhibits iNOS expression and exhibits antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects on cervical cancer cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-421
Author(s):  
Sounok Sengupta ◽  
Ratul Bhowmik ◽  
Satarupa Acharjee ◽  
Suchandra Sen

The main objective of this present study was to analyze the anti-inflammatory activity of the compound 1- 3- [3-(substituted phenyl) prop-2-enoyl) phenyl thiourea against inflammation receptors Secretory Phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-X), Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), Interleukin-1 Receptor-associated Kinase 4 (IRAK4), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-alpha) and Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase 4 using various in-silico techniques. The 3D structures of the receptors were retrieved from Protein Data Bank in PDB format. The ligand molecule was sketched in Chemdraw Ultra v 10.0. The proteins and the ligand molecule were then individually prepared for docking using AutoDock Tools. Docking was performed using AutoDock Vina. Swiss-ADME and Pre-ADMET web servers were used for ADME, drug-likeness, and toxicity analysis. The receptor showing the best binding affinity with our ligand molecule was further analyzed via Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulations using iMODS web server. The docking results revealed that our ligand molecule showed the best binding affinity with receptor sPLA2-X. The ADME analysis results of our ligand molecule were also good. MD Simulations study showed good results with our ligand- sPLA2-X receptor docked complex. This study revealed that our ligand molecule is a significant inhibitor sPLA2-X and can be further used as a potential therapy against inflammatory disorders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (65) ◽  
pp. 9332-9335
Author(s):  
Sandra Estalayo-Adrián ◽  
Salvador Blasco ◽  
Sandra A. Bright ◽  
Gavin J. McManus ◽  
Guillermo Orellana ◽  
...  

Two new water-soluble amphiphilic Ru(ii) polypyridyl complexes were synthesised and their photophysical and photobiological properties evaluated; both complexes showed a rapid cellular uptake and phototoxicity against HeLa cervical cancer cells.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (35) ◽  
pp. 3776-3783
Author(s):  
Nebojša Pavlović ◽  
Maja Đanić ◽  
Bojan Stanimirov ◽  
Svetlana Goločorbin-Kon ◽  
Karmen Stankov ◽  
...  

Background: Resveratrol was demonstrated to act as partial agonist of PPAR-γ receptor, which opens up the possibility for its use in the treatment of metabolic disorders. Considering the poor bioavailability of resveratrol, particularly due to its low aqueous solubility, we aimed to identify analogues of resveratrol with improved pharmacokinetic properties and higher binding affinities towards PPAR-γ. Methods: 3D structures of resveratrol and its analogues were retrieved from ZINC database, while PPAR-γ structure was obtained from Protein Data Bank. Docking studies were performed using Molegro Virtual Docker software. Molecular descriptors relevant to pharmacokinetics were calculated from ligand structures using VolSurf+ software. Results: Using structural similarity search method, 56 analogues of resveratrol were identified and subjected to docking analyses. Binding energies were ranged from -136.69 to -90.89 kcal/mol, with 16 analogues having higher affinities towards PPAR-γ in comparison to resveratrol. From the calculated values of SOLY descriptor, 23 studied compounds were shown to be more soluble in water than resveratrol. However, only two tetrahydroxy stilbene derivatives, piceatannol and oxyresveratrol, had both better solubility and affinity towards PPAR-γ. These compounds also had more favorable ADME profile, since they were shown to be more metabolically stable and wider distributed in body than resveratrol. Conclusion: Piceatannol and oxyresveratrol should be considered as potential lead compounds for further drug development. Although experimental validation of obtained in silico results is required, this work can be considered as a step toward the discovery of new natural and safe drugs in treatment of metabolic disorders.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document