Bioguided Fractionation of Local Plants against Matrix Metalloproteinase9 and Its Cytotoxicity against Breast Cancer Cell Models: In Silico and In Vitro Study

In Vitro Wound Healing and Anticancer Effects of Ixora coccinea in Malignant Melanoma Cell Lines

Background Ixora coccinea is a medicinal plant with many active constituents that are responsible for wound healing and have anticancer properties. Herbal extracts increase the mechanisms related to wound healing, like blood clotting, fighting infection, and epithelialization. The effect responsible for this property may be the presence of phytoconstituents like flavonoids, polyphenols, and alkaloids. Many researchers have evaluated the wound-healing effect of I. coccinea leaf extract in aqueous methanol. This study aimed to determine the in vitro wound healing and anticancer efficacy of I. coccinea leaf ethyl acetate extract and evaluate the in silico docking of the selected phytoconstituents of I. coccinea in the 2vcj protein. Materials and methods The human dermal fibroblast cell line was used to determine the rates of cell migration and proliferation for evaluating the wound-healing effect of the I. coccinea leaf ethyl acetate fraction. 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) fluorescence labeling was used to estimate the rate of cell migration. The one-step TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling) in situ apoptosis kit and the annexin V-FITC/7-AAD apoptosis kit were used to perform DNA damage assays in the malignant melanoma cell line. The ethyl acetate fraction of I. coccinea leaves was analyzed for its impact on wound healing markers, including keratin-10, keratin-14, type IV collagen, and α-SMA. Results The wound-healing nature was interesting in the ethyl acetate fraction at doses of 50 µg/mL and 100 µg/mL. Both studies involved in the DNA damage study against malignant melanoma cell lines showed the cleavage of apoptotic cancer cells, which was detected using a fluorescence microscope. When compared with the control, a dose of 100 μg/ml of ethyl acetate fraction from the leaves of I. coccinea showed fibroblast migration of cells into the wound area. The statistical values were considered significant at the level of P < 0.05. An in silico docking study on the 2vcj protein revealed that selected phytoconstituents of I. coccinea resulted in good docking scores to inhibit Hsp90. Conclusion I. coccinea ethyl acetate leaf extract can inhibit the growth of malignant melanoma cell lines and promote wound healing, as shown by the study results. It might be a viable therapeutic modality for skin cancer.

Decalepis hamiltonii root fraction alleviates CCl4 hepatotoxicity in a rat model

BACKGROUND

Decalepis hamiltonii (D. hamiltonii) is Indian folk medicine in herbal preparations, to reduce appetite, and cures dysentery, bronchitis, uterine hemorrhage, and other ailments.

OBJECTIVE

The current investigation focused on the hepatoprotective effect of D. hamiltonii roots fractions against liver damage.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The current research discussed the fraction from D. hamiltonii root extracts was used. Male Wistar rats (albino strain) were grouped into 4 distinct groups of six animals each. Group I: plain water and vehicle whereas Group II (CCl4 control): CCl4 (1 ml/kg, 20 % v/v in olive oil) over 7 days and vehicle; Over 7 days, Group III received Silymarin 100 mg/kg/day and tap water with 20 % v/v of CCl4, whereas Group IV (treatment group) received DHE 50 mg/kg/day, 100 mg/kg/day, and water. Assessment of biochemical parameters, Mitochondrial modulation, gene expression analysis, and RT-PCR, was used to estimate the protective action of DHEF in CCl4-intoxicated rats.

RESULTS

The administration of CCl4 increased levels of total bilirubin (0.63 ± 0.97 mg/dl) plasma amino transferases (110.36 ± 1.13 U/L, 86.56 ± 2.41 U/L and 1.51 ± 1.36 mg/dl respectively) which were mitigated by D. hamiltonii treatment. Activity like Lipid peroxidation and content of nitric oxide also augmented, while the antioxidant action measured by GSH (9.64 ± 0.18 U/mg protein), SOD (3.69 ± 0.22 U/mg protein), and CAT (1.47 ± 0.01 U/mg protein) was reduced. Decalepis hamiltonii root provided substantial restoration of GSH (14.92 ± 0.04 nmol/gm protein), SOD (4.20 ± 0.18 U/mg protein), and CAT (2.71 ± 0.04 U/mg protein) levels. In addition, the acute phase reactants stimulated by CCl4 administration enhanced mRNA expressions of IL-6, IL-10, TNF-a, NF-κβ, and COX-2, which were enhanced by D. hamiltonii treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, DHEF protects the liver against CCl4-induced damage, possibly by mitochondrial modulation mechanism. These findings indicate that D. hamiltonii significantly moderates oxidative stress of CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity.

Caffeic Acid in Spent Coffee Grounds as a Dual Inhibitor for MMP-9 and DPP-4 Enzymes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot ulcers remain serious worldwide health problems. Caffeic acid is one of the natural products that has been experimentally proven to have diverse pharmacological properties. This study aimed to assess the inhibitory activity of caffeic acid and ethanolic extract of spent coffee grounds targeting DPP-4 and MMP-9 enzymes and evaluate the molecular interactions through 50-ns molecular dynamics simulations. This study also introduced our new version of PyPLIF HIPPOS, PyPLIF HIPPOS 0.2.0, which allowed us to identify protein-ligand interaction fingerprints and interaction hotspots resulting from molecular dynamics simulations. Our findings revealed that caffeic acid inhibited the DPP-4 and MMP-9 activity with an IC50 of 158.19 ± 11.30 µM and 88.99 ± 3.35 µM while ethanolic extract of spent coffee grounds exhibited an IC50 of 227.87 ± 23.80 µg/100 µL and 81.24 ± 6.46 µg/100 µL, respectively. Molecular dynamics simulations showed that caffeic acid interacted in the plausible allosteric sites of DPP-4 and in the active site of MMP-9. PyPLIF HIPPOS 0.2.0 identified amino acid residues interacting more than 10% throughout the simulation, which were Lys463 and Trp62 in the plausible allosteric site of DPP-4 and His226 in the active site of MMP-9.

The Future of Carica papaya Leaf Extract as an Herbal Medicine Product

Carica papaya (papaya) leaf extract has been used for a long time in a traditional medicine to treat fever in some infectious diseases such as dengue, malaria, and chikungunya. The development of science and technology has subsequently made it possible to provide evidence that this plant is not only beneficial as an informal medication, but also that it has scientifically proven pharmacological and toxicological activities, which have led to its formal usage in professional health care systems. The development of formulations for use in nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals has caused this product to be more valuable nowadays. The use of good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards, along with the ease of registering this product facilitated by policies of the national government, will absolutely increase the value of papaya leaf extract as a vital nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products in the near future. In this article, we review the potential of papaya leaf extract to be a high-value commodity in terms of its health effects as well as its industrial benefits.

Potential SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibitors from chromene, flavonoid and hydroxamic acid compound based on FRET assay, docking and pharmacophore studies

This present study reports some natural products and one hydroxamic acid synthetic compound which were previously reported as matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) inhibitors to be evaluated for their inhibition toward severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro). This enzyme is one of the proteins responsible for this coronaviral replication. Two herbal methanolic extracts i.e., Averrhoa carambola leaves and Ageratum conyzoides aerial part demonstrate >50% inhibition at 1000 µg/mL. Interestingly, apigenin, one of flavonoids, demonstrates 92% inhibition at 250 µg/mL (925 µM) as well as hydroxamic acid compound, N-isobutyl-N-(4-methoxyphenylsulfonyl)glycyl hydroxamic acid (NNGH), which shows 69% inhibition at 100 µM. The in vitro results are supported by the docking studies revealing that the binding mode of both compounds is mainly by interacting with GLU166 residue in the hydrophobic pocket of the 3CLpro. Pharmacophore mapping further supported the results by confirming that the in vitro activities of both compounds are due to their pharmacophore features employing hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA), hydrogen bond donor (HBD) and hydrophobic. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis reported chromene compounds in Ageratum conyzoides aerial part methanolic extract are potential to be this enzyme inhibitor candidate. These all results reflect their potencies to be SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors through 3CLpro inhibition mechanism.

A study on catalytic and non-catalytic sites of H5N1 and H1N1 neuraminidase as the target for chalcone inhibitors

The H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and the H5N1 outbreak in 2005 have shocked the world as millions of people were infected and hundreds of thousands died due to the infections by the influenza virus. Oseltamivir, the most common drug to block the viral life cycle by inhibiting neuraminidase (NA) enzyme, has been less effective in some resistant cases due to the virus mutation. Presently, the binding of 10 chalcone derivatives towards H5N1 and H1N1 NAs in the non-catalytic and catalytic sites was studied using molecular docking. The in silico study was also conducted for its drug-like likeness such as Lipinski Rule, mutagenicity, toxicity and pharmacokinetic profiles. The result demonstrates that two chalcones (1c and 2b) have the potential for future NA inhibitor development. Compound 1c inhibits H5N1 NA and H1N1 NA with IC₅₀ of 27.63 µM and 28.11 µM, respectively, whereas compound 2b inhibits NAs with IC₅₀ of 87.54 µM and 73.17 µM for H5N1 and H1N1, respectively. The in silico drug-like likeness prediction reveals that 1c is 62% better than 2b (58%) in meeting the criteria. The results suggested that 1c and 2b have potencies to be developed as non-competitive inhibitors of neuraminidase for the future development of anti-influenza drugs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13765-021-00639-w.

Bioguided Fractionation of Local Plants against Matrix Metalloproteinase9 and Its Cytotoxicity against Breast Cancer Cell Models: In Silico and In Vitro Study (Part II)

In our previous work, the partitions (1 mg/mL) of Ageratum conyzoides (AC) aerial parts and Ixora coccinea (IC) leaves showed inhibitions of 94% and 96%, respectively, whereas their fractions showed IC₅₀ 43 and 116 µg/mL, respectively, toward Matrix Metalloproteinase9 (MMP9), an enzyme that catalyzes a proteolysis of extracellular matrix. In this present study, we performed IC₅₀ determinations for AC n-hexane, IC n-hexane, and IC ethylacetate partitions, followed by the cytotoxicity study of individual partitions against MDA-MB-231, 4T1, T47D, MCF7, and Vero cell lines. Successive fractionations from AC n-hexane and IC ethylacetate partitions led to the isolation of two compounds, oxytetracycline (OTC) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP). The result showed that AC n-hexane, IC n-hexane, and IC ethylacetate partitions inhibit MMP9 with their respective IC₅₀ as follows: 246.1 µg/mL, 5.66 µg/mL, and 2.75 × 10⁻² µg/mL. Toward MDA-MB-231, 4T1, T47D, and MCF7, AC n-hexane demonstrated IC₅₀ 2.05, 265, 109.70, and 2.11 µg/mL, respectively, whereas IC ethylacetate showed IC₅₀ 1.92, 57.5, 371.5, and 2.01 µg/mL, respectively. The inhibitions toward MMP9 by OTC were indicated by its IC₅₀ 18.69 µM, whereas DOP was inactive. A molecular docking study suggested that OTC prefers to bind to PEX9 rather than its catalytic domain. Against 4T1, OTC showed inhibition with IC₅₀ 414.20 µM. In conclusion, this study furtherly supports the previous finding that AC and IC are two herbals with potential to be developed as triple-negative anti-breast cancer agents.

An integrated virtual screening of compounds from Carica papaya leaves against multiple protein targets of SARS-Coronavirus-2

The pandemic of SARS-Coronavirus-2 (Coronavirus-19) has been progressing by the increasing trend of the cases as well as deaths with neither vaccine nor drug is rationally used to stop the viral spread over. This study aims to perform an integrated virtual screening of compounds that had been identified from Carica papaya leaves, which are proposed to be a herbal treatment for SARS-Coronavirus-2. The screening was initiated by evaluating the 40 compounds from Carica papaya leaves for their drug-like likeness property. The selected compounds were then secondly screened using carcinogenic and toxicity filters. Further selected compounds were thirdly screened for their pharmacokinetic profile and the screening was lastly performed by docking the third selected compounds against multiple protein targets of SARS-Coronavirus-2 employing 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), papain-like protease (PLpro), RNA-dependent-RNA-polymerase (RdRp), endonuclease (EndoU), S1 and S2 region of spike protein. The results show that 20 of 40 compounds, which meet the requirements of drug-like likeness, carcinogenicity-toxicity filter, and pharmacokinetic profiles, can interact with the multiple protein targets of SARS-Coronavirus-2 with the order from high to low affinity as follows: S1 > 3CLpro > EndoU > RdRp > PLpro > S2. In conclusion, Carica papaya leaves are worth to be proposed for further in vitro study against SARS-Coronavirus-2 at both molecular and cellular levels.