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Bulbine frutescens Phytochemicals as a Promising Anti-cancer Drug Discovery Source: A Computational Study

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Abstract

Deregulated signaling pathways/processes result in uncontrolled cell proliferation and cell survival. Adaptation to this condition often resulted in chemotherapeutic resistance in cancer cells. According to the concept of various signaling involvement in the development of cancer, fractional inhibition of numerous targets can be more productive than single one. Bulbine frutescens is a traditional medicinal plant of South Africa, has been preliminarily reported for anti-proliferative and anti-drug resistance property in cancer cells. Anticancer and mode of action of various phytochemicals present in the plant not yet has been studied. The present in silico study was designed to assess the potential B. frutescens phytochemicals as novel natural inhibitors of signaling proteins involved in cancer. Furthermore, drug-likeness property, ADME/T (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion/toxicity) properties, interaction ability with xenobiotic enzymes and biological activities were predicted by using various computational tools. For the first time Palmidin C, AC1NSTKE, Bulbine-knipholone and 4′-Demethylknipholone 2′-β-D-glucopyranoside compounds have been reported for their anticancer potential. These phytochemicals have better potential to inhibit NFkB, TGF-β, PI3K, and JAK2 proteins than their respective standard inhibitors. Lead phytochemicals showed better ADME/T, drug-likeness, xenobiotic enzymes interactions and biological activities. In conclusion, Palmidin C, AC1NSTKE and Bulbine-knipholone are the novel potent anticancer phytochemicals and need to be studied further in vitro and in vivo.

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Change history

  • 11 October 2019

    The chapter was inadvertently published with an incorrect affiliation of author Ajay Kumar as “A. Kumar, Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India”. It has been updated as “Ajay Kumar, Department of Biochemistry and Microbial Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Punjab, India”.

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Acknowledgements

PPK and SK acknowledges financial support from UGC, India and Central University of Punjab Bathinda, Punjab, India for providing financial assistance in the form of UGC-CSIR Senior Research Fellowship and UGC-BSR Research Start-Up-Grant, [No.F.30-372/2017(BSR)] respectively.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Kushwaha, P.P., Kumar, A., Maurya, S., Singh, A.K., Sharma, A.K., Kumar, S. (2019). Bulbine frutescens Phytochemicals as a Promising Anti-cancer Drug Discovery Source: A Computational Study. In: Kumar, S., Egbuna, C. (eds) Phytochemistry: An in-silico and in-vitro Update. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6920-9_26

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