ER Stress Proteins Can be an Effective Target for Epicatechin in Triple Negative Breast Cancer – An in-silico Approach

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) are more aggressive and faster when compared to other types of breast cancers. Targeted therapy is not available for TNBC due to the lack of receptors. Due to various cellular stress and oxidative stress, the accumulated misfolded or unfolded proteins induce endoplasmic reticulum stress that further activates an unfolded protein response (UPR). Plants are the source of several potent and effective medicines. Epicatechin is a polyphenol that is extensively present in fruits and vegetables and has a wide range of pharmacological uses. In silico docking studies have proven to be an important tool to facilitate the structural diversity of natural products to be harnessed in an organized manner. Here, we attempted using in silico docking to check whether epicatechin interacts with selected endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress proteins in triple-negative breast cancer cells. ASK1 and JNK showed good interaction with epicatechin among the various ER stress proteins. The results from in silico docking between epicatechin and ER stress proteins showed that the epicatechin could regulate the oncoprotein expression in stress conditions. Thus, epicatechin may be used as a therapeutic agent against ER stress proteins which play a major role in the development of cancer.