Research Projects

Advancements in treatment strategies and anticancer drugs have made some cancers survivable chronic diseases. However, these advancements come with issues such as drug resistance and difficulty in delivering proper doses to cancerous cells without affecting normal cells. Safety concerns in radiotherapy and chemotherapeutic treatments have led to the search for new drugs with enhanced therapeutic efficiency and reduced toxicity. Protein-based vaccines have gained attention due to their high specificity, low toxicity, and penetrating ability. A novel anti-cancer protein fraction from Withania somnifera, known as Withania somnifera protein fraction (WSPF), has been discovered. SDS-PAGE analysis of WSPF revealed prominent proteins with molecular weight around 40-42 KDa and 21-23 KDa proteins, as well as some less prominent small molecular weight proteins/peptides. A protein of 41.5kDa was purified from the 40-42 kDa protein fraction and exhibited anti-cancer activity in preliminary studies. To develop real therapeutic insights, it is crucial to purify and identify other protein(s)/peptide(s) from WSPF, validate their uniqueness and efficacy towards breast cancers, and carry out their molecular characterization. This study is the first of its kind involving purification, identification, and molecular characterization of anti-cancer protein(s)/peptide(s) from Withania somnifera.