In Vitro and In Silico Investigations of Natural Compounds with Predicted Activity against Neuroblastomas

In the present study, the ability of an ethanolic extract from Stokesia laevis to inhibit the development of human glioblastoma cell line U87 has been investigated. Cytotoxic activity has been estimated at 78% in comparison to normal human astrocyte cell line NHA, while IC50 values were 9.12 μg of gallic acid ([GAE]) equivalents per 1 mL of extract for U87 and 24.17 μg of gallic acid ([GAE]) equivalents per 1 mL of extract for NHA. Docking simulations of the active compounds in Stokesia aster and curcumin against the target anti-apoptotic protein BCL-2 has revealed the following order in the magnitude of the docking scores: native ligand > curcumin > luteolin-7-O-glucoside > luteolin-8-O-glucoside > luteolin, with root mean square (RMS) between 0.01 and 0.93. Since neuroblastomas are not restricted by the blood–brain barrier and selective cytotoxicity has been demonstrated to be higher against tumor cells than normal control astrocytes, the use of Stokesia aster ethanolic extracts and luteolin derivates as an alternative approach to neuroblastomas is to be considered.