A COMPARATIVE in vitro AND in silico STUDY ON THE MECHANISM OF ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF Artemisia vulgaris AND ITS COMPONENTS ARTEMISININ AND DIHYDROARTEMISININ

Abstract

The paradox of life is that the molecule necessary for supporting aerobic life, oxygen, is not just an essential component in energy metabolism and respiration, but also in the etiopathogenesis of numerous disease and degenerative states due to the formation of free radicals, a oxygen-based reactive species (Butnariu, 2012). newlineFree radicals are substances that are derived from compounds that have undergone partial or incomplete oxidation. The presence of the oxygen group is the prime step in initiating aggressive oxidation reactions at the cell surfaces or even within the cells. The presence of an unpaired electron makes it highly unstable and can initiate series of unpredictable reactions in the body that lead to the destruction of lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. In the cells, free radicals are formed as the by-products of oxygen metabolism formed during oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondria (Pickrell et al., 2009; Butnariu and Samfira, 2012). newlineMitochondria are involved in the generation of ATP and known to be the quotpowerhouse of the cell . In the past few decades, research has focussed on the multiple roles of mitochondria in various cellular activities including signaling, proliferation and death. Hence, damage to mitochondria has been implicated in the pathogenesis of end-organ injury in a variety of diseases (Grattagliano et al., 2011; Swerdlow, 2011; Cloonan and Choi., 2012; Griffiths, 2012; Hedskog et al., 2012; Nunnari and Suomalainen, 2012; Schapira, 2012). Damaged and dysregulated mitochondria generate excessive amounts of ROS that result in further damage of several mitochondrial components, leading to a vicious cycle to other reactive species and, ultimately, to cell death (Bolisetty and Jaimes, 2013). newlineReactive oxygen species (ROS) are a class of molecules derived from the metabolism of oxygen, and is characterized by high chemical reactivity (Zhou et al., 2013). They can be classified into oxygen centered radicals (superoxide, hydroxyl radicals, alkoxyl radicals and peroxy radicals)