Amygdalin shows strong binding and stabilizing effects on HER2 receptor: A computational study for breast cancer therapy
2025-07-02
(Press-News.org)
This study investigates the potential of amygdalin, a natural compound found in almonds, peaches, and apples, as a therapeutic agent for HER2-positive breast cancer. HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) is overexpressed in a significant percentage of aggressive breast cancer cases and is associated with poor prognosis. The researchers aimed to explore whether amygdalin could effectively bind to and stabilize the HER2 protein, which could suppress its cancer-promoting activity.
To do this, the study employed a variety of computational tools. Molecular docking was used to determine how strongly amygdalin could bind to HER2, and results showed favorable binding energies, especially when water molecules were included in the simulation. Molecular dynamics simulations over a 100-nanosecond period revealed that amygdalin binding induced structural changes in the HER2 protein, particularly reducing the flexibility of the dimerization arm and decreasing interdomain distances—features associated with an inactive HER2 conformation. The binding was shown to be energetically favorable, primarily driven by van der Waals forces, as revealed by MMPBSA energy calculations.
Finally, the study identified key amino acids within HER2 that contributed most to the binding interaction, and the presence of water was shown to enhance the stability and tightness of the binding. The authors conclude that while these computational results are promising and show that amygdalin could interfere with HER2 activity, further in vitro and clinical studies are needed to validate its effectiveness as a treatment option. Nonetheless, the findings offer a strong foundation for future drug development targeting HER2 in breast cancer.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2025-07-02
Published in Smart Construction, this study investigates the cyclic bond behavior of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars—an area vital to seismic design yet previously underexplored. By examining carbon (CFRP), glass (GFRP), and basalt (BFRP) fiber reinforced polymer bars under reversed cyclic loading, the research quantifies how bar diameter, embedment length, concrete strength, and rib geometry influence initial bond stiffness, unloading strength, frictional resistance, and energy dissipation. A unified bond stress–slip ...
2025-07-02
Researchers discover high-velocity clouds in the nearby spiral galaxy M83. These clouds are moving at speeds significantly different to the galaxy’s overall speed of rotation. The findings suggest that these clouds likely originated outside the galaxy, offering new insights into how galaxies acquire fresh gas and sustain star formation over billions of years. This hints at how our own galaxy evolved and may evolve in the future.
Maki Nagata is a graduate student and astronomer at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Astronomy. Recently, she and her colleagues were trying to solve a long-standing question in astronomy: “How do galaxies ...
2025-07-02
The deadly, record-breaking heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest in June 2021 continues to be the subject of intense interest among scientists, policy makers and the public. A new study from some of the region's top climate scientists synthesized more than 70 publications addressing the causes and consequences of the extreme heat wave and the potential for similar high-heat events to happen in the future.
"It's still the event of interest for anyone who studies heat waves or the atmospheric patterns that cause them," says Paul Loikith, associate professor of geography ...
2025-07-02
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) impacts approximately 2% of the global population, often preventing individuals from living life to their full potential. The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) invites the public to a free webinar, “Transforming Treatment Outcomes for People with OCD” on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at 2:00 pm ET. In this talk, Helen Blair Simpson, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University / New York State Psychiatric Institute and Director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, will explore how research can transform outcomes for those living with OCD. She will discuss clinical trials that ...
2025-07-02
A rare cell in the lining of lungs is fundamental to the organwide response necessary to repair damage from toxins like those in wildfire smoke or respiratory viruses, Stanford Medicine researchers and their colleagues have found. A similar process occurs in the pancreas, where the cells, called neuroendocrine cells, initiate a biological cascade that protects insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells from damage.
Treating the airways of mice with an experimental drug that activates the repair pathway protected their airways from damage after infection with influenza or ...
2025-07-01
New cutting-edge software developed in Melbourne can help uncover how the most common heart tumour in children forms and changes. And the technology has the potential to further our understanding of other childhood diseases, according to a new study.
The research, led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and published in Genome Biology, found the software, VR-Omics, can identify previously undetected cell activities of cardiac rhabdomyoma, a type of benign heart tumour.
Developed by MCRI’s Professor Mirana Ramialison, VR-Omics is the first tool capable of analysing and visualising data in both ...
2025-07-01
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle—specifically, a diet rich in fibre but light on red/processed meat, regular exercise, not smoking, and sticking to a normal weight—is linked to a significantly lower risk of diverticulitis, finds a large long term study, published online in the journal Gut.
What’s more, these 5 components seem to offset the effects of inherited genes, the findings indicate.
Diverticulitis occurs when ‘pouches’ develop along the gut and become inflamed or infected in the wall of the large intestine (colon), explain the researchers. It’s a common cause of hospital admissions and a major reason for emergency colon surgery, they add.
Genetic ...
2025-07-01
Women aged 65 and above are still at heightened risk of cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), suggest the findings of a large observational study published in the open access journal Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinical Medicine.
But most guidelines currently recommend discontinuing screening for the disease in women aged 65+ if they have had previously normal smear tests. Yet global cases of cervical cancer have been rising among women in this age group, prompting the researchers to call for a policy rethink.
Recent data from the World Health Organization indicate that ...
2025-07-01
A diet high in foods with the potential to promote low grade inflammation during pregnancy may raise that child’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes, suggests Danish research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
This dietary pattern was associated with a 16% heightened risk for every unit increase in a dietary measure of inflammatory food intake, the findings show.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder characterised by the destruction of insulin-producing β-cells in the pancreas, necessitating lifelong ...
2025-07-01
More must be done to address the growth in anxiety related to climate change, says a leading psychologist, before it becomes the next mental health crisis.
In his book Understanding Climate Anxiety, Geoff Beattie documents how climate anxiety is on the rise, especially amongst young people. Yet support is limited and sufferers face stigma because of the polarised debate around whether the climate crisis even exists, he says.
Understanding Climate Anxiety offers psychological tips and guidance ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Amygdalin shows strong binding and stabilizing effects on HER2 receptor: A computational study for breast cancer therapy
