Breast cancer modelling with grape seed flavonoids: A molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and density functional theory study

In this thesis, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) and density functional theory (DFT) were used to investigate the potential effects of grape seed flavonoids on breast cancer. In this thesis study, four important receptors related to breast cancer were targeted: 7UJM (ER), 1R5K (ER), 4IFI (BRCA1) and 1N0W (BRCA2). These receptors have been selected as important biomolecular targets in the treatment of breast cancer. Molecular docking studies have been conducted to study the interactions of grape seed flavonoids and known anti-cancer drugs with these receptors. In the first stage of the study, the complexes with the lowest binding energy among the receptor-ligand complexes were identified. The results obtained have revealed that grape seed flavonoids show strong interactions with target receptors, compared to some existing drugs. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to evaluate the stability of the selected ligand-receptor complexes. The simulation results showed that flavonoids form stable complexes with receptors and that these complexes are stable. In addition, the electronic properties of these complexes have been studied in detail using density functional theory (DFT). As a result, this thesis study suggests that grape seed flavonoids can be used as a potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of breast cancer.