Apoptotic and anti-angiogenic effects of propolis against human bladder cancer: molecular docking and in vitro screening

Abstract

Introduction

Bladder cancer is still of unknown initiation and progression, it is difficult to treat the patient once bladder cancer have a distant metastasis.

Materials and methods

In the present study, propolis extract was evaluated against bladder cancer cells (T24). Two independent pathways were investigated, apoptosis and angiogenesis, Bax, Bcl-2, P53, and caspase-3 for apoptosis, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and protein kinase A as angiogenesis potential targets.

Objectives

Molecular docking studies will be conducted for the major known constituents of Egyptian propolis into apoptotic and angiogenic protein targets, to give better insights to the possible binding mode and interactions and investigate the ability of propolis constituents to target both apoptotic and angiogenic pathways.

Results

Propolis showed anti-proliferative activity against T24 cancer cell line, the IC₅₀ value was 6.36 µg/ml. Also significant effects of propolis on Bax, Bcl-2, P53, and caspase-3 were observed.

Discussion

These obtained results proved the ability of propolis to induce cell death. Also it has revealed noticeable effects on protein kinase A and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor.

Conclusion

The obtained results can encourage us to say that propolis extract can induce a programmed cell death in human bladder cancer cells, and also affect angiogenesis.

Keywords:

• Bladder cancer
• apoptosis, Bax, Bcl-2, P53, caspase-3, angiogenesis, VEGFR
• protein kinase A (PKA)
• T24
• human bladder cancer cell line
• natural products
• propolis
• molecular docking

Acknowledgement

Dr Amany Belal would like to introduce appreciated thanks to Taif University Researchers Supporting, Project number (TURSP-2020/35), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data and materials that support the results or analyses are provided as Supplementary data files with the online version of this manuscript.