IN VITRO AND IN SILICO APPROACH TO EVALUATE THE CYTOTOXICITY OF Carica papaya EXTRACTS AGAINST Saos-2 CELL LINE

Osteosarcoma is the predominant form of bone cancer, which affects mostly adolescents and young adults. Despite therapeutic options, the prognosis for patients suffering with recurrent or advanced osteosarcoma remains poor. Carica papaya, a herbaceous plant, is well-known for its medicinal properties in traditional medicine. This study explores the therapeutic potential of Carica papaya leaf and seed extracts against osteosarcoma through an integrated in silico and in vitro approach. An MTT assay was performed to evaluate the apoptotic and cytotoxic effects against Saos-2 osteosarcoma cell line which demonstrated an IC50 value of 0.91% and 0.78% for leaf and seed extract respectively. In silico validation was carried out using network pharmacology to identify the top 10 hub genes. From molecular docking studies, we identified major bioactives such as flavones and androst-4-en-3-one,17-methoxy from leaf extract with good binding affinity to SRC, and 2-methyl-5H-dibenz[b,f]azepine and supraene from seed extract with ESR1, PARP1, AKT1, ERBB2. This study serves as a preliminary investigation into the anticancer property of Carica papaya against osteosarcoma and the results suggest its promise as a natural therapeutic agent for osteosarcoma.