Cytotoxic effects of amentoflavone from Ouratea fieldingiana on HCT-116, SNB-19, and pC-3 cells with structural insights from molecular docking

Amentoflavone, a biflavonoid found in plants of the Ochnaceae family, was studied for its potential in treating colorectal, glioblastoma, and prostate cancer in vitro experimental models. Tests on human tumour cells HCT-116, SNB-19, and PC-3 showed significant inhibition of cell proliferation by amentoflavone, notably 95.60% inhibition and an IC₅₀ of 0.675 ± 0.26 µM in HCT-116 cells. Computational studies indicated that amentoflavone interacts significantly with the active site of the CDK2 protein, comparable to the inhibitor kenpaullone, a reference compound in oncology research. Furthermore, agathisflavone an isomer of amentoflavone, exhibited the strongest interaction with CDK2 protein, with a binding energy of -10.3 kcal/mol, being very close to the positive control sorafenib (-10.6 kcal/mol). These findings underscore the therapeutic potential of amentoflavone and the ongoing importance of researching natural compounds for cancer treatment.