Abstract
Marine derived novel anti-cancer natural products are in high demand because of its multifactorial and lesser side effects. Toluquinol, a methylhydroquinone, isolated from marine fungus of Penicillium sps. is a known AKT inhibitor, a major player in cancer progression. The present study investigates the anticancer property of toluquinol in human lung cancer cell line NCI-H520 as compared to normal immortalized lung cells, L -132. Cytotoxicity of the compound was assessed through MTT assay and doses were decided according to its IC50. Soft agar, Colony formation and Wound healing assays revelaed its potent anticancer activity in a dose-dependent manner. The compound also possesses apoptotic properties as confirmed by DNA fragmentation, AO/PI staining and mRNA levels of key pro/anti-apoptotic genes. Toluquinol also showed potent free radical scavenging activity in cell-free assays – ABTS, CUPRAC, DPPH indicating its antioxidant property. In-silico docking analysis also showed stable strong interactions of Toluquinol with EGFR and AKT with high LibDock Score, which makes toluquinol a potent inhibitor to be used in future. Hence toluquinol shows enormous potential as a potent anti-cancer marine derived drug and a novel therapeutic molecule.
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