Cytotoxic and Molecular Docking Studies of Camellia sinensis Twig Extracts Against Human Cancer Cell Lines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/ajpr.v27i2.798Keywords:
Camellia sinensis, twig extracts, cytotoxicity, molecular docking, cancer cell lines, anticancer activity, apoptosis, phytochemicals, computational analysis, drug discovery.Abstract
Camellia sinensis (green tea) is a rich source of polyphenolic phytochemicals with reported antioxidant and anticancer properties. The present study investigated the cytotoxic potential of different solvent extracts of Camellia sinensis twigs and explored their molecular interactions using in vitro and in silico approaches. Sequential extraction was carried out using methanol, butanol, hexane, and ethyl acetate. Cytotoxic activity was evaluated using the MTT assay against human breast cancer cell lines (MCF‑7). In parallel, molecular docking studies were performed using Glide (Schrödinger) to predict the binding affinity of major green tea phytoconstituents against selected target proteins (PDB IDs: 6MTU and 6YQ4).
The results demonstrated that the methanolic and butanolic twig extracts exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against MCF‑7 cells, with IC₅₀ values of 42.45 ± 0.754 µg/mL and 36.05 ± 0.614 µg/mL, respectively, while ethyl acetate and hexane extracts showed comparatively lower activity. Molecular docking studies revealed strong binding interactions of catechin gallate and theaflavin derivatives with the selected protein targets, exhibiting docking scores superior to some standard anticancer drugs. The combined in vitro and in silico findings suggest that Camellia sinensis twig extracts possess promising anticancer potential. Further studies involving bioactive compound isolation, mechanistic evaluation, and in vivo validation are recommended to confirm their therapeutic applicability.
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