Integrative Genomic and in Silico Analysis Reveals Mitochondrially Encoded Cytochrome C Oxidase III (MT-CO3) Overexpression and Potential Neem-Derived Inhibitors in Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND

The increasing global incidence of breast cancer calls for the identification of new therapeutic targets and the assessment of possible neem-derived inhibitors by means of computational modeling and integrated genomic research.

METHODS

Originally looking at 59,424 genes throughout 42 samples, we investigated gene expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas-Breast Cancer (TCGA-BRCA) dataset. We chose 286 genes for thorough investigation following strict screening for consistent expression. R's limma package was used in differential expression analysis. The leading candidate's protein modeling was done with Swiss-ADME and Discovery Studio. Molecular docking studies, including 132 neem compounds, were conducted utilizing AutoDock Vina.

RESULTS

Among the 286 examined, mitochondrially encoded cytochrome C oxidase III (MT-CO3) turned out to be the most greatly overexpressed gene, showing consistent elevation across all breast cancer samples. Protein modeling revealed a substantial hydrophobic pocket (volume: 627.3 Å) inside the structure of MT-CO3. Docking investigations showed five interesting neem-derived inhibitors: 7-benzoylnimbocinol, nimolicinol, melianodiol, isonimocinolide, and stigmasterol. Strong binding affinities ranging from -9.2 to -11.5 kcal/mol and diverse interactions with MT-CO3, mostly involving the residues Phe214, Arg221, and Trp58, these molecules displayed. With hydrophobic interactions dominant across all chemicals, fragment contribution analysis revealed that scaffold percentage greatly influences binding effectiveness. Stigmasterol revealed greater drug-likeness (QED = 0.79) despite minimal interaction variety, while 7-benzoylnimbocinol presented the best-balanced physicochemical profile.

CONCLUSION

Connecting traditional medicine with current genomics and computational biology, this work proposes a methodology for structure-guided drug design and development using neem-derived chemicals and finds MT-CO3 as a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer.