2. Academic Validation
  3. In vitro evaluation and molecular docking of QS-21 and quillaic acid from Quillaja saponaria Molina as gastric cancer agents

In vitro evaluation and molecular docking of QS-21 and quillaic acid from Quillaja saponaria Molina as gastric cancer agents

  • Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 29;10(1):10534. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67442-3.
Leda Guzmán 1,  Katherine Villalón 2,  María José Marchant 2,  María Elena Tarnok 2,  Pilar Cárdenas 2,  Gisela Aquea 2,  Waldo Acevedo 2,  Leandro Padilla 3,  Giuliano Bernal 4,  Aurora Molinari 5,  Alejandro Corvalán 6 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Laboratorio de Química Biológica, Instituto de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile. [email protected].
  • 2 Laboratorio de Química Biológica, Instituto de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.
  • 3 Natural Response S.A, Av. Industrial 1970, Quilpué, Región de Valparaíso, Chile.
  • 4 Laboratorio de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer, Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile.
  • 5 Laboratorio de Química Orgánica, Instituto de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.
  • 6 Laboratorio de Oncología, Departamento Hematología y Oncología, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
  • 7 Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases, Santiago, Chile.
PMID: 32601436 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67442-3
Abstract

The cytotoxic mechanism of the saponin QS-21 and its aglycone quillaic acid (QA) was studied on human gastric Cancer cells (SNU1 and KATO III). Both compounds showed in vitro cytotoxic activity with IC50 values: 7.1 μM (QS-21) and 13.6 μM (QA) on SNU1 cells; 7.4 μM (QS-21) and 67 μM (QA) on KATO III cells. QS-21 and QA induce Apoptosis on SNU1 and KATO III, as demonstrated by TUNEL, Annexin-V and Caspase Assays. Additionally, we performed in silico docking studies simulating the binding of both triterpenic compounds to key proteins involved in apoptotic pathways. The binding energies (∆Gbin) thus calculated, suggest that the pro-apoptotic protein Bid might be a plausible target involved in the apoptotic effect of both triterpenic compounds. Although QA shows some antiproliferative effects on SNU1 cells cultured in vitro, our results suggest that QS-21 is a more powerful antitumor agent, which merits further investigation regarding their properties as potential therapeutic agents for gastric Cancer.

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