Anticancer agents from plants

Recent advances in the area of plant-based anti-cancer drug discovery using computational approaches

Phytocompounds are a well-established source of drug discovery due to their unique chemical and functional diversities. In the area of cancer therapeutics, several phytocompounds have been used till date to design and develop new drugs. One of the desired interests of pharmaceutical companies and researchers globally is that new anti-cancer leads are discovered, for which phytocompounds can be considered a valuable source. Simultaneously, in recent years, the growth of computational approaches like virtual screening (VS), molecular dynamics (MD), pharmacophore modelling, Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR), Absorption Distribution Metabolism Excretion and Toxicity (ADMET), network biology, and machine learning (ML) has gained importance due to their efficiency, reduced time-consuming nature, and cost-effectiveness. Therefore, the present review amalgamates the information on plant-based molecules identified for cancer lead discovery from in silico approaches. The mandate of this review is to discuss studies published in the last 5-6 years that aim to identify the phytomolecules as leads against cancer with the help of traditional computational approaches as well as newer techniques like network pharmacology and ML. This review also lists the databases and webservers available in the public domain for phytocompounds related information that can be harnessed for drug discovery. It is expected that the present review would be useful to pharmacologists, medicinal chemists, molecular biologists, and other researchers involved in the development of natural products (NPs) into clinically effective lead molecules.

In Vitro Investigation of the Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Potential of Tabernaemontana ventricosa Hochst. ex A. DC. Leaf, Stem, and Latex Extracts

Tabernaemontana ventricosa (Apocynaceae) a latex-bearing plant is used in traditional medicine for its therapeutic benefits in reducing fever and hypertension and wound healing. Due to limited information on the plant’s pharmacological activities, this study aimed to investigate the antioxidant potential of the leaf, stem, and latex extracts of T. ventricosa, using the Folin-Ciocalteu (total phenolics), aluminum chloride colorimetric (total flavonoids), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated in the human HEK293 (embryonic kidney), HeLa (cervical carcinoma), and MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma) cell lines using the MTT assay. The latex extracts possessed the highest total phenolic content (115.36 ± 2.89 mg GAE/g), followed by the stem hexane extracts (21.33 ± 0.42 mg GAE/g), the chloroform leaf (7.89 ± 0.87 mg GAE/g), and the chloroform stem (4.69 ± 0.21 mg GAE/g) extracts. The flavonoid content was substantially high ranging from 946.92 ± 6.29 mg QE/g in the stem hexane, 768.96 ± 5.43 mg QE/g in the latex, 693.24 ± 4.12 mg QE/g in the stem chloroform, and 662.20 ± 1.00 mg QE/g in the leaf hexane extracts. The DPPH assays showed the highest percentage of inhibition at 240 µg/mL, for the stem hexane (70.10%), stem methanol (65.24%), and stem chloroform (60.26%) extracts, with their respective IC50 values of 19.26 µg/mL (stem hexane), 6.19 µg/mL (stem methanol), and 22.56 µg/mL (stem chloroform). The FRAP assays displayed minimal inhibition ranging from 4.73% to 14.40%, except for the latex extracts which displayed moderate inhibition at 15 µg/mL (21.82%) and substantial inhibition at 240 µg/mL (98.48%). The HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines were the most sensitive to the extracts, with the hexane, chloroform, and methanol leaf and stem, and latex extracts significantly affecting the percentage cell survival. Overall, the various parts of T. ventricosa exhibited strong antioxidant activity correlating to its cytotoxicity. Further studies should focus on the isolation of specific antioxidant compounds that could be investigated for their anticancer potential.