Tetraprenyltoluquinone Inhibits the Tumor Marker Aldo-Keto Reductase: An in Silico Study

Abstract

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the globe. The development of new cancer medicines and the identification of new therapeutic targets is still a pressing necessity. The protein AKR1B10 was discovered to be a valuable biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of some malignancies. Over expression of the AKR1B10 gene is found in lung cancer, oral squamous cell carcinoma, breast cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic cancer and liver cancer. AKR1B10 is implicated in detoxification, retinoic acid metabolism, and lipid synthesis, among other pathological actions. AKR1B10 is known to be carcinogenic and can be utilized as a tumor marker, according to research. The tetraprenyltoluquinone compound is an isolate from the bark of kandis (Garcinia cowa, Roxb) which has been reported to have anticancer activity in vivo and in vitro and has the potential to be developed as an anticancer drug derived from natural ingredients. This study aims to determine the activity of the tetraprenyltoluquinone compound in silico with the target of the AKR1B10 protein. The method used is molecular docking using PLANTS (Protein Ligand ANT System) for protein visualization and preparation and Ligplus program for visualizing amino acids. The docking score results showed that the AKR1B10 protein interaction with the test ligand tetraprenyltoluquinone is lower than the native ligand, which means the binding energy of tetraprenyltoluquinone to the AKR1B10 (PDB ID: 1ZUA) protein was higher than the native ligand tolrestat. These results indicate that tetraprenyltoluquinone is a potential inhibitor of the AKR1B10 protein in the pathway of cancer.