In silico authentication of amygdalin as a potent anticancer compound in the bitter kernels of family Rosaceae

Zainab Ayaz; Bibi Zainab; Sajid Khan; Arshad Mehmood Abbasi; Mohamed S Elshikh; Anum Munir; Abdullah Ahmed Al-Ghamdi; Amal H Alajmi; Qasi D Alsubaie; Abd El-Zaher M A Mustafa

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.06.041

In silico authentication of amygdalin as a potent anticancer compound in the bitter kernels of family Rosaceae

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2020 Sep;27(9):2444-2451. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.06.041. Epub 2020 Jun 30.

Authors

Zainab Ayaz^{1

2}, Bibi Zainab^{1

2}, Sajid Khan¹, Arshad Mehmood Abbasi², Mohamed S Elshikh³, Anum Munir^{1

4}, Abdullah Ahmed Al-Ghamdi³, Amal H Alajmi³, Qasi D Alsubaie³, Abd El-Zaher M A Mustafa^{3

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioinformatics, Govt. Post Graduate College Mandian Abbottabad, Pakistan.
² Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, 22060, Pakistan.
³ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Bioinformatics and Biosciences, Capital University of Science and Technology Islamabad, Pakistan.
⁵ Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.

Abstract

Amygdalin a naturally occurring compound, predominantly in the bitter kernels of apricot, almond, apple and other members of Rosaceae family. Though, amygdalin is used as an alternative therapy to treat various types of cancer but its role in cancer pathways has rarely been explored yet. Therefore, present study was intended with the aim to investigate the alleged anti-cancerous effects of amygdalin specifically on PI3K-AKT-mTOR and Ras pathways of cancer in human body. Computational modelling and simulation techniques were used to assess the effect of amygdalin on PI3K-AKT-mTOR and Ras pathways using different level of dosage. It was observed that amygdalin had direct and substantial contribution to regulate PI3K-mTOR activities on threshold levels while the other caner pathways were effected indirectly. Consequently, amygdalin is a down-regulator of a cancer within a specified amount and contribute considerably to reduce various types of cancer in human. Furthermore, in-vitro and in-vivo analyses of amygdalin could be of helpful to authenticate its pharmacological effects.

Keywords: Amygdalin; Cancer; Modeling; PI3K–AKT–mTOR; Ras pathways; Simulation.