Short and efficient synthesis of the natural triterpenoids α- and β-amyrins with detailed in silico screening and in vitro anticancer evaluation against breast and prostate cancer cells
Özet
α- and β-Amyrins are biologically important pentacyclic triterpenoids that occur at low levels in natural sources, making their isolation difficult. In this study, a simple and cost-effective semisynthetic route was developed to obtain α- and β-amyrins from ursolic acid and oleanolic acid in three steps, and the products were characterized by NMR, FT-IR, and HRMS. The compounds were evaluated against 32 therapeutically relevant targets using molecular docking, MM-GBSA, and molecular dynamics simulations. Estrogen receptor α (ERα) and androgen receptor (AR) were identified as the most promising targets, with α-amyrin exhibiting the strongest binding toward AR (MM-GBSA = −100.16 kcal/mol) and β-amyrin toward ERα (−91.94 kcal/mol). Stable receptor–ligand complexes were confirmed by 500 ns molecular dynamics simulations. In vitro cytotoxicity studies demonstrated potent antiproliferative activity against MCF-7 and PC-3 cells, with α-amyrin showing the highest activity (IC50 = 7.86 and 6.86 μM, respectively) and favorable selectivity toward cancer cells. DFT analysis indicated similar electronic properties for both isomers and identified the hydroxyl group as the principal reactive site. Overall, α- and β-amyrins, particularly α-amyrin, represent promising lead compounds targeting ERα and AR for the development of therapies against hormone-dependent cancers.
Anahtar kelimeler
Atıf için künye
ŞENOL, H., Tuncay, S., ATEŞOĞLU, Ş., Menzek, A., Seçen, H., & TOPÇU, G. (2026). Short and efficient synthesis of the natural triterpenoids α- and β-amyrins with detailed in silico screening and in vitro anticancer evaluation against breast and prostate cancer cells. COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY, 125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2026.109333
BibTeX
@article{senol2026-71404,
author = {ŞENOL, HALİL and Tuncay, Salih and ATEŞOĞLU, ŞEYMA and Menzek, Abdullah and Seçen, Hasan and TOPÇU, GÜLAÇTI},
title = {Short and efficient synthesis of the natural triterpenoids α- and β-amyrins with detailed in silico screening and in vitro anticancer evaluation against breast and prostate cancer cells},
journal = {COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY},
year = {2026},
volume = {125},
issn = {1476-9271},
doi = {10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2026.109333},
url = {https://akademik.atauni.edu.tr/yayinlar/71404-short-and-efficient-synthesis-of-the-natural-triterpenoids-a-and-v-amyrins-with}
}