In Silico Study of the Inhibitory Effect of Isoflavones on the Genes Frequently Reported in the Pathophysiology of Breast Cancer

Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring plant-derived active substances found in a wide variety of foods. Numerous health benefits of phytoestrogens include the reduced occurrence of breast tumors. Overexpression of the protein serine-hydroxyl-methyl-transferase-2 (SHMT2) has been reported in breast cancer. In one-carbon metabolism SHMT2 enzyme is present, which is necessary for cancer cell proliferation in a low glucose environment. Hence, this study focused on natural isoflavones that have a toxic effect on the development of breast cancer cells without harming normal cells. The structure of the protein SHMT2 was retrieved from the protein data bank and the structure of isoflavones was determined using the PubChem database. The docking of isoflavones with SHMT2 was done to determine their inhibitory effect on the latter since it causes the rapid development of breast cancer cells. It was identified that two isoflavones (6O-acetyldaidzin and malonyldaidzin) have a high affinity to bind with the protein because of hydrogen bonding. This study highly recommends conducting clinical trials on human beings based on the interaction between phytochemicals and SHMT2 gene to determine the safe dosage level of the former.