Manuscript Title:

STRUCTURE BASED VIRTUAL IDENTIFICATION OF NOVEL HERBAL COMPOUNDS AGAINST TARGET PROTEINS IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

Author:

SHANDANA ALTAF, SHAFIQ AHMAD TARIQ, SAMI SIRAJ, JAMSHAID AHMAD, SAIMA IKRAM, SHEIKH ARSLAN SEHGAL

DOI Number:

DOI:10.17605/OSF.IO/CMNDB

Published : 2022-12-10

About the author(s)

1. SHANDANA ALTAF - Assistant Professor, Khyber Medical College, Peshawar Pakistan and PhD Scholar Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
2. SHAFIQ AHMAD TARIQ - Professor Pharmacology, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
3. SAMI SIRAJ - Director Institute of Pharmaceutical sciences, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
4. JAMSHAID AHMAD - Assistant professor Center of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.
5. SAIMA IKRAM - Center of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.
6. SHEIKH ARSLAN SEHGAL - Department of bioinformatics Islamia University Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Full Text : PDF

Abstract

Growth factor receptors and enzymes are essential proteins that link extracellular signals with intracellular signaling pathways and support many phases of the development of cancer. Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR2) is a dominant player in the angiogenesis process of malignant cells and Sterol O-acyltransferase (SOAT1) is emerging as a new oncogenic enzyme in the development and progression of cancer. In this study we selected three plant-derived compounds Indigoferin A (compound 1), Indigoferin B (compound 2) and Indigoferin C (compound 3) as ligands and investigated their binding affinity and simulation energy with prospective targets VEGFR2 and SOAT1. Indigofera Giardiana is a shrub and is found in northern hilly areas of Pakistan and India. It has medicinal uses in conventional medicine for treating skin infections and stomach spasms. In the current work, ligand-receptor complexes were subjected to molecular dynamics and simulation analysis. Compounds Indigoferin A, B and C all have good binding affinity with the three selected targets (VEGFR2, SOAT1 and p53Mapkinase). In terms of metrics generated from molecular dynamics simulations, such as root mean square deviation and fluctuation, the ligand and receptor complexes were found stable. The molecules Indigoferin A, B, and C exhibit different protonation states that interact significantly with the target proteins' active site residues, as shown by the results of molecular dynamics and simulation analysis. The relative binding free energies have been precisely calculated using the MM-GBSA method. Preventing cell growth is an important strategy for treating cancer and these three compounds have the potential to inhibit the targeted enzyme (SOAT1) and receptor proteins (VEGFR2, p53 Map Kinase) thus helping to find novel compounds that could successfully restrain the growth of malignant cells.


Keywords

Hepatocellular carcinoma, Indigofera giardiana, VEGFR2, SOAT1, p53mapkinase, molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulation, quantum polarized ligand docking.