Natural alkaloids targeting EGFR in non-small cell lung cancer: Molecular docking and ADMET predictions

Mass Spectrometry-Imaging Analysis of Active Ingredients in the Leaves of Taxus cuspidata

BACKGROUND

Taxus cuspidata is an endangered evergreen conifer mainly found in Northeast Asia. In addition to the well-known taxanes, several active ingredients were detected in the leaves of T. cuspidata. However, the precise spatial distribution of active ingredients in the leaves of T. cuspidata is largely unknown.

RESULTS

in the present study, timsTOF flex MALDI-2 analysis was used to uncover the accumulation pattern of active ingredients in T. cuspidata leaves. In total, 3084 ion features were obtained, of which 944 were annotated according to the mass spectrometry database. The principal component analysis separated all of the detected metabolites into four typical leaf tissues: mesophyll cells, upper epidermis, lower epidermis, and vascular bundle cells. Imaging analysis identified several leaf tissues that specifically accumulated active ingredients, providing theoretical support for studying the regulation mechanism of compound biosynthesis. Furthermore, the relative accumulation levels of each identified compound were analyzed. Two flavonoid compounds, ligustroflavone and Morin, were identified with high content through quantitative analysis of the ion intensity.

CONCLUSIONS

our data provides fundamental information for the protective utilization of T. cuspidata.

Computational investigation of Moringa oleifera phytochemicals targeting EGFR: molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation and density functional theory studies

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a prominent target for anticancer therapy due to its role in activating several cell signaling cascades. Clinically approved EGFR inhibitors are reported to show treatment resistance and toxicity, this study, therefore, investigates Moringa oleifera phytochemicals to find potent and safe anti-EGFR compounds. For that, phytochemicals were screened based on drug-likeness and molecular docking analysis followed by molecular dynamics simulation, density functional theory analysis and ADMET analysis to identify the effective inhibitors of EGFR tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) domain. Known EGFR-TK inhibitors (1-4 generations) were used as control. Among 146 phytochemicals, 136 compounds showed drug-likeness, of which Delta 7-Avenasterol was the most potential EGFR-TK inhibitor with a binding energy of -9.2 kcal/mol followed by 24-Methylenecholesterol (-9.1 kcal/mol), Campesterol (-9.0 kcal/mol) and Ellagic acid (-9.0 kcal/mol). In comparison, the highest binding affinity from control drugs was displayed by Rociletinib (-9.0 kcal/mol). The molecular dynamics simulation (100 ns) exhibited the structural stability of native EGFR-TK and protein-inhibitor complexes. Further, MM/PBSA computed the binding free energies of protein complex with Delta 7-Avenasterol, 24-Methylenecholesterol, Campesterol and Ellagic acid as -154.559 ± 18.591 kJ/mol, -139.176 ± 19.236 kJ/mol, -136.212 ± 17.598 kJ/mol and -139.513 ± 23.832 kJ/mol, respectively. Non-polar interactions were the major contributors to these energies. The density functional theory analysis also established the stability of these inhibitor compounds. ADMET analysis depicted acceptable outcomes for all top phytochemicals without displaying any toxicity. In conclusion, this report has identified promising EGFR-TK inhibitors to treat several cancers that can be further investigated through laboratory and clinical tests.

Chemical Composition, In vitro and In silico Evaluation of Essential Oil from Ocimum tenuiflorum and Coriandrum sativum Linn for Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND

Medicinal plants play an essential role in everyday life; plants highly contain therapeutic phytoconstituents commonly used to treat various diseases. This paper discusses the Chemical composition, In vitro antiproliferative activity and In silico study of essential oil extracted from Ocimum tenuiflorum (family Lamiaceae) and Coriandrum sativum (family Apiaceae).

OBJECTIVE

In present study GC-MS was used to identify the chemical constituents from O. tenuiflorum and C. sativum. In vitro antiproliferative activity was performed on A549 cancer cell lines. In silico study was performed by Schrodinger's maestro software to identify chemical constituents in both plants as potential EGFR inhibitors for the treatment of lung cancer.

METHODS

The essential oil was extracted by hydro distillation from aerial parts of O. tenuiflorum and C. sativum. The volatile oil sample was analyzed by (GC-MS) Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry. Different chemical constituents were identified based on the retention index and compared with the NIST library. The oil samples from O. tenuiflorum and C. sativum was also evaluated for antiproliferative activity against human lung cancer A549 cell lines. In silico study was performed by Schrodinger maestro software against EGFR (PDB ID 5HG8).

RESULTS

O. tenuiflorum essential oil contains Eugenol (42.90%), 2-β-Elemene (25.98%), β- Caryophyllene (19.12%) are the major constituents. On the other side, C. sativum contains nnonadecanol- 1 (16.37%), decanal (12.37%), dodecanal (12.27%), 2-Dodecanal (9.67%), Phytol (8.81%) as the major constituents. Both the oils have shown in vitro antiproliferative activity against human lung cancer cell lines A549 having IC50 values of 38.281 μg/ml (O. tenuiflorum) and 74.536 μg/ml (C. sativum). Molecular interactions of constituents hydro distilled from two oils was analysed by schrodinger maestro software against EGFR (PDB ID 5HG8).

CONCLUSION

The oil sample extracted from O. tenuiflorum showed more antiproliferative activity than C. sativum. In silico study showed that two chemical constituents, namely di-isobutyl phthalate (-7.542 kcal/mol) and dibutyl phthalate (-7.181 kcal/mol) from O. tenuiflorum and one diethyl phthalate (-7.224 kcal/mol) from C. sativum having more docking score than standard Osimertinib which indicates the effectiveness of oils for lung cancer.

Molecular interactions of cucurbitacins A and B with anaplastic lymphoma kinase for lung cancer treatment

Lung cancer is a major global public health issue and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Several medications are commonly used to treat lung cancer, either alone or in combination with other treatments. The anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) protein is one of several target proteins that are thought to be potential therapeutic targets in the context of lung cancer. Several ALK inhibitors have been identified, but many of these have been associated with side effects and toxicity concerns. In this study, we intend to computationally predict the binding potential of cucurbitacins (CBNs), A and B to the active pockets of ALK, in order to estimate their potential ALK inhibitors. Compared to CBN-A, which has a binding energy of -7.9 kcal/mol, CBN B exhibits significantly better binding efficacy with a binding energy of -8.1 kcal/mol. This is closely comparable to the binding energy of Crizotinib, which is -8.2 kcal/mol. The results of the molecular dynamics simulation indicated that the docked complexes remained stable for the duration of the 100 ns simulation period. CBN inhibited the proliferation of both non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, H1299 and A549, in a dose-dependent manner. CBN-B inhibited the proliferation of lung cancer cells, showing IC50 values of 0.08 µM for H1299 cells and 0.10 µM for A549 cells. The computational analyses provide strong evidence that CBN-B has the potential to act as a potent natural inhibitor against ALK, and could prove to be a valuable treatment option for lung cancer.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Heterogeneous Cellular Response of Primary and Metastatic Human Gastric Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines to Magnoflorine and Its Additive Interaction with Docetaxel

Gastric cancer is the most common cancer and remains the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. In this study, the anticancer action of magnoflorine isolated via counter-current chromatography from the methanolic extract of Berberis vulgaris root against gastric cancer in models of primary ACC-201 and AGS and metastatic MKN-74 and NCI-N87 cell lines was analyzed. Cell viability and proliferation were tested through the use of MTT and BrdU tests, respectively. Cell cycle progression and apoptosis were evaluated using flow cytometry. The interaction of magnoflorine and docetaxel has been examined through isobolographic analysis. Moreover, potential toxicity was verified in zebrafish in an in vivo model. Gastric cancer cell lines revealed different responses to magnoflorine treatment with regard to viability/proliferation, apoptosis induction and cell cycle inhibition without any undesirable changes in the development of larval zebrafish at the tested concentrations. What is more, magnoflorine in combination with docetaxel produced an additive pharmacological interaction in all studied gastric cancer cell lines, which may suggest a complementary mechanism of action of both compounds. Taken together, these findings provide a foundation for the possibility of magnoflorine as a potential therapeutic approach for gastric cancer and merits further investigation, which may pave the way for clinical uses of magnoflorine.

Identifying druggable targets from active constituents of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. for non-small cell lung cancer using network pharmacology and validation through molecular docking

INTRODUCTION

Azadirachta indica A. Juss. is a well-known medicinal plant that has been used traditionally to cure various ailments in every corner of the globe. There are many in vitro and in vivo experimental evidences in connection with the bioactivity of the extracts of this plant. Lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancer and contributes to the most cancer related deaths. The mode of action of anticancer components of this plant is still to be established explicitly.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to identify druggable targets of active constituents of A. indica A. Juss. for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using network pharmacology and validation of activity through molecular docking analysis.

METHODOLOGY

Targets of all the active phytochemicals from A. indica were predicted and genes related to NSCLC were retrieved. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of the overlapping genes were prepared. Various databases and servers were employed to analyse the disease pathway enrichment analysis of the clustered genes. Validation of the gene/protein activity was achieved by performing molecular docking, and ADMET profiling of selected phytocompounds was performed.

RESULT

Gene networking revealed three key target genes as EGFR, BRAF and PIK3CA against NSCLC by the active components of A. indica. Molecular docking and ADMET analysis further validated that desacetylnimbin, nimbandiol, nimbin, nimbinene, nimbolide, salannin and vepinin are the best suited anti- NSCLC among all the phytocompounds present in this plant.

CONCLUSION

The present study has provided a better understanding of the pharmacological effects of active components from A. indica and its potential therapeutic effect on NSCLC.

Rapid determination of five common toxic alkaloids in blood by UPLC-MRM-IDA-EPI: Application to poisoning case

Toxic alkaloids are typically found in herbal medicines and have strong pharmacological effects and a broad therapeutic spectrum. On the other hand, toxic alkaloids exert toxicological activities in vivo; as such they have a narrow therapeutic window and can induce poisoning due to incorrect dose or misuse. In this view, there is an urgent need to develop a rapid and sensitive assay to detect these toxic alkaloids. This study developed a method for determining five common toxic alkaloids in blood, including brucine, strychnine, aconitine, mesaconitine, and hypaconitine using ultra-high liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole/linear ion trap mass spectrometry (QTRAP UPLC-MS/MS). The analytes in this investigation were extracted with ether and detected using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)-information-dependent acquisition (IDA)-enhanced product ion (EPI) scanning modes. SKF_525A served as the internal standard (IS). The approach demonstrated excellent linearity, with a correlation coefficient (R) > 0.9964, and satisfactory sensitivity, with the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.31 ∼ 3.26 ng/mL and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 1.13 ∼ 11.52 ng/mL. The extraction recovery (ER) was 78.8 ∼ 116.2%, the matrix effect (ME) was -12.3 ∼ 21.2%, and the method accuracy was 0.8 ∼ 12.8%. In addition, the intra-day precision and the inter-day precision (RSD) were 0.7% ∼ 7.4% and 0.4% ∼ 13.5%, respectively. The developed approach is sensitive and efficient, and offer significant application prospect in clinical monitoring and forensic detection of poisoning.

A metabolomic platform to identify and quantify polyphenols in coffee and related species using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry

INTRODUCTION

Products of plant secondary metabolism, such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, alkaloids, and hormones, play an important role in plant growth, development, stress resistance. The plant family Rubiaceae is extremely diverse and abundant in Central America and contains several economically important genera, e.g. Coffea and other medicinal plants. These are known for the production of bioactive polyphenols (e.g. caffeine and quinine), which have had major impacts on human society. The overall goal of this study was to develop a high-throughput workflow to identify and quantify plant polyphenols.

METHODS

First, a method was optimized to extract over 40 families of phytochemicals. Then, a high-throughput metabolomic platform has been developed to identify and quantify 184 polyphenols in 15 min.

RESULTS

The current metabolomics study of secondary metabolites was conducted on leaves from one commercial coffee variety and two wild species that also belong to the Rubiaceae family. Global profiling was performed using liquid chromatography high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Features whose abundance was significantly different between coffee species were discriminated using statistical analysis and annotated using spectral databases. The identified features were validated by commercially available standards using our newly developed liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method.

DISCUSSION

Caffeine, trigonelline and theobromine were highly abundant in coffee leaves, as expected. Interestingly, wild Rubiaceae leaves had a higher diversity of phytochemicals in comparison to commercial coffee: defense-related molecules, such as phenylpropanoids (e.g., cinnamic acid), the terpenoid gibberellic acid, and the monolignol sinapaldehyde were found more abundantly in wild Rubiaceae leaves.

Identification of natural flavonoids as novel EGFR inhibitors using DFT, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics

The quantum mechanical descriptors from DFT, molecular docking, molecular dynamics, and NCIplot methodology have been utilized to find a potential anti-EGFR flavonoid.