Structure-based virtual screening of anti-breast cancer compounds from Artemisia absinthium-insights through molecular docking, pharmacokinetics, and molecular dynamic simulations

Breast cancer is the world's second most frequent malignancy, with a significant mortality and morbidity rate. Nowadays, natural breast cancer medicine has piqued attention as disease-curing agent with low side effects. Herein, the leaf powder of Artemisia absinthium was extracted with ethanol, and GC-MS and LC-MS methods were employed to identify the phytocompounds. Using commercial software SeeSAR-9.2 and StarDrop, identified phytocompounds were docked with estrogen and progesterone breast cancer receptors as they promote breast cancer growth to find the binding affinity of the ligands, drugability, and toxicity. Hormone-mediated breast cancer accounts for about 80% of all cases of breast cancer. Cancer cells proliferate when estrogen and progesterone hormones are attached to these receptors. The molecular docking results demonstrated that 3',4',5,7-Tetrahydroxyisoflavanone (THIF) has stronger binding efficacy than standard drugs and other phytocompounds with -28.71 (3 hydrogen bonds) and -24.18 kcal/mol (6 hydrogen bonds) binding energies for estrogen and progesterone receptors, respectively. Pharmacokinetics and toxicity analysis were done to predict the drug-likeness of THIF which results in good drugability and less toxicity. The best fit THIF was subjected to a molecular dynamics simulation analysis by using Gromacs to analyze the conformational changes that occurred during protein-ligand interaction and found that, the structural changes were observed. The results from MD simulation and pharmacokinetic studies suggested that THIF can be expected that in vitro and in vivo research on this compound may lead to the development of a potent anti-breast cancer drug in the future.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Difference in Volatile Aroma Components of Stropharia rugosoannulata under Two Cultivated Environments Investigated by SPME-GC-MS

In order to study the effect of both greenhouse and forest cultivating environments on Stropharia rugosoannulata, its volatile aroma compounds were measured by a headspace solid phase micro extractions-gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (SPME-GC-MS). The optimal adsorption temperature was 75 °C and the optimal adsorption time was 40 min. A total of 36 volatile aroma compounds were identified by GC-MS, including 8 aldehydes, 2 ketones, 4 alcohols, 15 alkenes, and 4 alkanes. Hexanal, 3-Octanone, 2-Undecanone, (E)-Nerolidol, and (Z)-β-Farnesene made great aromatic contributions. Among them, Hexanal, 3-Octanone, 2-Undecanone were the key aroma compounds for which odor activity values (OAVs) were more than 1. (E)-Nerolidol showed odor modification in the forest samples and showed a key aroma effect in greenhouse samples. (Z)-β-Farnesene showed odor modification in greenhouse samples. 3-Octanone was the largest contributing compound for which the OAV was more than 60. The total content of volatile aroma compounds first increased and then decreased with growth time; it reached the highest level at 48 h: 2203.7 ± 115.2 μg/kg for the forest environment and 4516.6 ± 228.5 μg/kg for the greenhouse environment. The aroma was the most abundant at this time. All samples opened their umbrella at 84 h and become inedible. Principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were combined to analyze the aroma difference of S. rugosoannulata under two cultivation modes. PCA and HCA could effectively distinguish the aroma difference in different growth stages. Under different culturing methods, the aroma substances and their changes were different. The samples were divided into two groups for forest cultivation, while the samples were divided into three groups for greenhouse cultivation. At the end of growth, the aroma of S. rugosoannulata with the two cultivation modes was very similar. OPLS-DA clearly distinguished the differences between the two cultivation methods; 17 key aroma difference factors with variable importance projection (VIP) > 1 were obtained from SPLS-DA analysis.

Fatty Acid Profile of Lipid Fractions of Mangalitza (Sus scrofa domesticus) from Northern Romania: A GC-MS-PCA Approach

Mangalitza pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) becomes more popular in European countries. The goal of this study was to evaluate the fatty acid profile of the raw and thermally processed Mangalitza hard fat from Northern Romania. For the first time, the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-Principal component analysis technique (GC-MS-PCA)—was applied to evaluate the dissimilarity of Mangalitza lipid fractions. Three specific layers of the hard fat of Mangalitza from Northern Romania were subjected to thermal treatment at 130 °C for 30 min. Derivatized samples were analyzed by GC-MS. The highest relative content was obtained for oleic acid (methyl ester) in all hard fat layers (36.1–42.4%), while palmitic acid was found at a half (21.3–24.1%). Vaccenic or elaidic acids (trans) were found at important concentrations of 0.3–4.1% and confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. These concentrations are consistently higher in thermally processed top and middle lipid layers, even at double values. The GC-MS-PCA coupled technique allows us to classify the unprocessed and processed Mangalitza hard fat specific layers, especially through the relative concentrations of vaccenic/elaidic, palmitic, and stearic acids. Further studies are needed in order to evaluate the level of degradation of various animal fats by the GC-MS-PCA technique.