2-Methylpyridine-1-ium-1-sulfonate as an Inducer of Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest: A comparative in vitro and Computational Study.

"Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food" was expressed by Hippocrates and the health benefits of medicinal plants and natural products have been considered by humans since historic times. The current study aims to investigate the anti-cancer activity of 2-Methylpyridine-1-ium-1-sulfonate (MPS) isolated from bulbs of Allium hirtifolium. The MPS compound (in a dose-dependent manner) induced arrest the AGS cells in G1 and G2/M phases, and Caco-2 cells in G1 and S phases. These findings were associated with the down-regulation of cyclin D1, CDK4, and up-regulation of p21, p27 and p53. According to the morphological observations and DNA fragmentation assay, the MPS compound induced apoptosis in both cell lines, and also cause a significant increase in the expression of Bax/Bcl-2. In this context, our molecular docking results unveiled that the MPS compound has considerable affinity to interact with the minor groove of ctDNA and also with cell cycle kinases. To approve and find the accurate MPS mode of action against cancer cell lines (especially in gastrointestinal cancer) further studies is highly recommended.