Potential Phytocompounds to Inhibit Human Polo-Like Kinase 1 in Cancer Therapy

Cancer is a potential fatal disease characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. Polo-like kinases (Plks) are serine/threonine protein kinases which play critical role in regulating cell cycle. Deregulated expression of Plks is detected in many types of cancer and is associated with oncogenesis. Though there are five Plk homologous, Plk 1 is identified as the best target to defend uncontrolled cell growth. Natural compounds from plant resource are being exploited recently on a large scale for treating various diseases. The aim of this study is to identify the inhibitory activity of selected phytochemicals on Plk 1 protein so as to develop effective drugs based on natural compounds. In silico docking analysis is a successful way of screening molecules so as to confirm their inhibitory activity against respective targets. About 574 phytocompounds of various conformations were docked with the target protein Plk 1 using the software Discovery Studio version 4.0. The most effective ones were identified based on interaction energy and docking score. Phytocompounds such as ferulic acid, caffeic acid and N-methyltyramine from the common medicinal plants like Curcuma longa, Pseudarthria viscida and Wrightia tinctoria showed strong anticancer activity through the suppression of Plk 1.