Molecular simulation: The potency of conserved region on E6 HPV-16 as a binding target of black tea compounds against cervical cancer

Cervical cancer ranks fourth as the deadliest cancer in women in this part of the world, around 0.5 million women and close to 0.25 million people infected with cervical cancer, some of which is caused by infection with infectious agents such as human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV consists of 2 types of genes late (L) for structural protein and early (E) for functional. E protein, which plays a crucial role in normal cell transformation called E6. E6 affects p53 activity in cells by forming the E6-p53 complex, thus directing the complex to the mechanism of degradation through the proteasome pathway. E6 has a specific binding on the conserved region, it interacts with p53, therefore the potency of E6 HPV-16 conserved region is the focus of this study. Previous research explained, the black tea compounds were identified as inhibitor effects on various types of viral infections in vitro, but the molecular mechanism was still unknown. Therefore, this study aims to identify the functional conserved region in E6 HPV-16 from all strains and chemical compounds of black tea that have the potential to become inhibitors through in silico studies, to obtain drug candidates that prevent cervical cancer. The analytical method used in this research is in silico consisting of identification of conserved region E6 HPV-16, protein modeling, docking, and molecular interaction. The results showed that all chemical compounds contained in black tea were able to act as E6 HPV-16 inhibitors by binding directly to the conserved functional region used to interact with p53. The binding of these complex compounds can affect in a biological activity of E6, so it is predicted that p53 will not be degraded because the binding domain of E6 on p53 is inhibited by black tea compounds, and has the potential to prevent cervical cancer.