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2000
Volume 28, Issue 13
  • ISSN: 1386-2073
  • E-ISSN: 1875-5402

Abstract

Background

Oral cancer poses a significant threat to public health worldwide. In addition, because many chemotherapy treatments have negative side effects, natural herbs may be beneficial for oral cancer therapy. (AA), a potential medicinal herb, exerts various pharmacological and biochemical activities.

Objective

The present study aimed to predict the anti-oral cancer potential of AA using tools and cell death by testing.

Methods

A total of fourteen bioactive constituents from AA herb were selected using phytochemical databases. The toxicity of AA herb extract was analysed through MTT assay against oral carcinoma A253 cell line. The binding activities of the phytocomponents against serine/threonine-specific protein kinases isoforms, namely Akt1 (PDB ID: 3qkk) and Akt2 (PDB ID: 2jdo) proteins, were analysed using Discovery Studio 2021 and PyRx docking software.

Results

Cell viability data revealed that AA extract decreased the viability and reduced the number of live cells of the oral carcinoma A253 cell line in a dose-dependent manner. The half-maximal concentration (IC) value of AA was assessed as 204.74 µg/ml. Based on binding affinity, saponin C (-CDOCKER energy = -77.9862 Kcal/mol), oleanolic acid (-CDOCKER energy = -49.4349 Kcal/mol), spinasterol (-CDOCKER energy = -38.1246 Kcal/mol), 36,47-dihydroxyhenpentacontan-4-one (-CDOCKER energy = -32.4386 Kcal/mol), and 20-hydroxyecdysone (-CDOCKER energy = -31.9138 Kcal/mol) were identified as the best compounds against Akt1, while, compounds saponin C (-CDOCKER energy = -134.412 Kcal/mol), oleanolic acid (-CDOCKER energy = -90.0846 Kcal/mol), spinasterol (-CDOCKER energy = -78.3213 Kcal/mol), 20-hydroxyecdysone (-CDOCKER energy = -80.1049 Kcal/mol), and ecdysone (-CDOCKER energy = -73.3885 Kcal/mol) were identified as Akt2 inhibitors. These top compounds fulfilled drug score values, pharmacokinetic and physicochemical characteristics, and drug-likeness parameters.

Conclusion

The present findings reveal that the lead phytomolecules of AA could be effective and developed as a prospective drug against oral cancer.

© 2025 Bentham Science Publishers
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In silico Screening and in vitro Cytotoxicity Study of Achyranthes aspera Phytochemicals Against Oral Cancer: A Possible Step towards the Development of Anti-cancer Agents
Comb Chem High Throughput Screen 28, 2201 (2025); https://doi.org/10.2174/0113862073289916240503051643
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  • Article Type:     Research Article
Keyword(s): Achyranthes aspera; Akt1; Akt2; cytotoxicity; molecular docking; Oral squamous cell carcinoma; phytoconstituents

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