UNRAVELLING THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF ABUTILON INDICUM IN CERVICAL CANCER THROUGH NETWORK PHARMACOLOGY AND MOLECULAR DOCKING APPROACH

Abstract

Cervical cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality among women globally, and the search for safer, multi-target therapeutic alternatives to conventional cytotoxic regimens continues to intensify. Abutilon indicum, a plant long used in Indian traditional medicine, has been credited with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiproliferative properties, yet the molecular basis of its anticancer action against cervical cancer has not been systematically mapped. In the present study, an integrated network pharmacology and molecular docking workflow was used to identify the phytochemical-target-pathway architecture underlying the activity of A. indicum against cervical cancer. Thirty-seven phytochemicals were screened, yielding 404 predicted human protein targets, which were cross-referenced against 585 cervical cancer-associated genes to reveal 78 common targets. Protein-protein interaction network analysis and CytoHubba MCC ranking identified BCL2 as the topmost hub gene, and Gene Ontology/KEGG enrichment implicated pathways centred on apoptosis regulation and the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance cascade. Molecular docking of linoleic acid against the BCL2 crystal structure (PDB: 6O0K) revealed a stable binding pose (binding energy -4.29 kcal/mol) stabilised by hydrogen bonds with Arg66 and Tyr67 and hydrophobic contacts with Ala59, Phe63, Val107 and Tyr161. These findings provide a mechanistic, systems-level rationale for the traditional use of A. indicum and nominate the BCL2-linoleic acid interaction as a testable lead for future experimental validation in cervical cancer models.