A preliminary in-vitro and in-silico investigation into the cytotoxic and anti-metastatic activity of Smilax ovalifolia Roxb. ex D.Don against non-small cell lung cancer cells

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is an aggressive cancer. Our study investigated the cytotoxic and metastatic effect of the ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) of the leaf extract of Smilax ovalifolia Roxb. ex D.Don (SO) against NCI-H23 cells. LC-MS, MTT assay, trypan blue, clonogenic assay, autophagy, apoptosis and migration assays were done. LC-MS analysis revealed the presence of several active compounds like robinetin. EAF of the SO extract promoted cytotoxicity, autophagy, apoptosis, and inhibited the migration of NCI-H23 cells. Our results suggest that EAF of the SO extract promoted cell death of the NCI-H23 cells along with inhibiting their metastatic capacity at the doses of 25 µg/mL, 50 µg/mL and 100 µg/mL. EAF of the SO extract didn’t show any cytotoxicity towards human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In-silico analysis showed the stable binding of robinetin with MMP-2 could be held responsible for the anti-metastatic effect of EAF of the SO extract.