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New natural inhibitors of hexokinase 2 (HK2): Steroids from Ganoderma sinense

Fengyan Bao1, Kaiyin Yang2, Canrong Wu2

  • 1Wuya College of Innovation, School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery, Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China.

Fitoterapia
|January 7, 2018
PubMed

Insights

A novel steroid from Ganoderma sinense, compound 2, is the first natural inhibitor of Hexokinase 2 (HK2). This discovery offers a potential new drug candidate for targeting HK2 in cancer therapy.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Natural Product Chemistry
  • Cancer Biology

Background:

  • Hexokinase 2 (HK2) is a key enzyme in glycolysis, highly expressed in cancer cells.
  • HK2 plays a critical role in tumor growth and metastasis, making it a promising therapeutic target.
  • Natural products are a rich source of potential anti-cancer agents.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify novel natural product inhibitors of Hexokinase 2 (HK2).
  • To evaluate the anti-cancer potential of a steroid isolated from Ganoderma sinense.
  • To explore compound 2 as a potential therapeutic agent targeting HK2 in cancer.

Main Methods:

  • Structure-based virtual ligand screening of natural products against HK2.
  • In vitro microscale thermophoresis (MST) and enzyme inhibition assays.
  • Cell-based assays to assess the biological activity of compound 2.

Main Results:

  • Virtual screening predicted high binding affinity of steroid compound 2 to HK2.
  • Compound 2, isolated from Ganoderma sinense, demonstrated significant HK2 inhibitory activity.
  • Compound 2 was identified as the first natural inhibitor of Hexokinase 2.

Conclusions:

  • Compound 2 is a potent natural inhibitor of Hexokinase 2.
  • This steroid represents a potential novel drug candidate for HK2-targeted cancer therapy.
  • Further investigation into compound 2's therapeutic efficacy is warranted.
Keywords:
Cancer therapyGanoderma sinenseHexokinase 2SteroidsTarget

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