Identification of therapeutic phytochemicals targeting B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) as anti-acute myeloid leukemia agents: An in-silico approach

ackground: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a deadly cancer. B cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) is frequently upregulated in AML and plays a vital role in the viability of both AML and AML stem cells. This study aimed to identify novel phytochemicals against BCL2 and evaluate their pharmacokinetics and toxicity prediction using in-silico tools.Methods: In-silico screening of phytochemicals against BCL2 active site using the PyRx0.8 AutoDock tool, followed by in silico pharmacokinetic and toxicity predictions was performed. Protein-protein interaction analysis was performed using the STRING database for assessing the interactions between BCL2 and neighboring interacting proteins.Results: In total, 1106 terpenoid compounds were screened to evaluate their binding affinity toward BCL2. Five natural compounds demonstrated strong binding to the BCL2 protein after extensive screening, detailed interaction analysis, and visual inspections. Notably, these compounds had higher binding energies than the positive control (venetoclax). In addition, these compounds were found to bind to key BCL2 residues and possess good drug-like properties.Conclusions: The identified phytochemicals represent an important initial step in drug discovery for AML management. Experimental validation is required to optimize the identified phytochemicals as potential BCL2 inhibitors.