Structure based docking and biological evaluation towards exploring potential anti-cancerous and apoptotic activity of 6-Gingerol against human prostate carcinoma cells

Q: What is the main research focus of this study on 6-Gingerol?

The study focuses on evaluating 6-Gingerol as a potential anti-cancer agent by investigating its inhibition of androgen receptor activity and its apoptotic activity in human prostate carcinoma cells.

Q: How were molecular interactions assessed in the study?

Molecular docking simulations were performed to examine binding affinity of 6-Gingerol and the control drug Bicalutamide against oncogenic AR and tumor suppressor estrogen receptor β (ERβ).

Q: What in vitro findings support the anti-cancer potential of 6-Gingerol?

Results in PC-3 cells showed dose- and time-dependent inhibition, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, reduced migration, and apoptotic morphological changes including condensed chromatin and nuclear apoptotic bodies.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Jiven

6-Gingerol (6-G) is the principal bioactive phytocomponent of ginger, with evidence that it modulates multiple cancer-related targets. This study evaluates 6-G as an anti-cancer candidate by examining its ability to inhibit androgen receptor (AR) activity and its potential apoptotic effects in human prostate carcinoma cells. Docking was combined with in vitro antioxidant, anti-cancer, apoptotic, and wound-healing assays.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Khan et al. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies (2024) 24:8 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-023-04269-1](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-023-04269-1) BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies RESEARCH Open Access Structure based docking and biological evaluation towards exploring potential anti-cancerous and apoptotic activity of 6-Gingerol against human prostate carcinoma cells Habiba Khan 1*, Iqbal Azad2, Zeeshan Arif3,4, Shama Parveen 1, Saurabh Kumar 1, Juhi Rais5, Jamal Akhtar Ansari2, Malik Nasibullah2, Sudhir Kumar1 and Md Arshad6* Abstract Background 6-Gingerol (6-G) is the primary active phytocomponent of ginger and has been shown to regulate multiple targets against cancer and its treatment. Androgen receptors (ARs) remain critical in the progression of prostate cancer (PCa) . This study focuses on investigating 6-G as a promising anti-cancerous agent that inhibits AR activity significantly. Methods In this study, molecular docking simulation was done to investigate the binding affinity of 6-G and control drug Bicalutamide (BT) against oncogenic AR and tumor suppressor estrogen receptor β (ERβ) . The crystal structure of AR and ERβ was retrieved from Protein Data Bank (PDB) and docked with 3D Pubchem structures of 6-G using iGEMDOCK and AutoDock. Further in vitro study was done to evaluate the antioxidant, anti-cancerous, apoptotic, and wound healing potential of 6-G. Results The result displays that 6-G shows good binding affinity with AR and ERβ. Condensation of the nucleus, change in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and the ability to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) were done in human PCa PC-3 cells. Results from the MTT assay demonstrated that 6-G and control drug BT showed significant (p < 0. 01) dose and time dependent inhibition of human PCa PC-3 cells. 6-G increased the ROS generation intracellularly and decreased the MMP, and cell migration in treated PCa PC-3 cells. 6-G treated cells showed fragmented, condensed chromatin and nuclear apoptotic bodies. Conclusions Thus, this study validates 6-G as a potential drug candidate against human PCa. However, further study of the anticancer potency of 6-G has to be done before its use for PCa treatment. Keywords Prostate cancer, Androgen receptor, 6-Gingerol, Molecular docking, Anticancer *Correspondence: Habiba Khan [habibakhan2305@gmail.com](habibakhan2305@gmail.com)[ ](habibakhan2305@gmail.com)Md Arshad [arshadm123@rediffmail.com](arshadm123@rediffmail.com) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ()[. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ()[http://creativecom](http://creativecom)[mons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/](mons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Khan et al. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies (2024) 24:8

FAQs

What is the main research focus of this study on 6-Gingerol?

The study focuses on evaluating 6-Gingerol as a potential anti-cancer agent by investigating its inhibition of androgen receptor activity and its apoptotic activity in human prostate carcinoma cells.

How were molecular interactions assessed in the study?

Molecular docking simulations were performed to examine binding affinity of 6-Gingerol and the control drug Bicalutamide against oncogenic AR and tumor suppressor estrogen receptor β (ERβ).

What in vitro findings support the anti-cancer potential of 6-Gingerol?

Results in PC-3 cells showed dose- and time-dependent inhibition, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, reduced migration, and apoptotic morphological changes including condensed chromatin and nuclear apoptotic bodies.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Jiven