Cancer continues to be leading cause of death globally, with nearly 7 million deaths per year. Despite significant progress in cancer research and treatment, there remain several challenges to overcome, including drug resistance, the presence of cancer stem cells, and high interstitial fluid pressure in tumors. To tackle these challenges, targeted therapy, specifically targeting HER2 (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2) as well as EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor), is considered a promising approach in cancer treatment. In recent years, phytocompounds have gained recognition as a potential source of chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents in tumor cancer treatment. Phytocompounds are compounds derived from medicinal plants that have the potential to treat and prevent cancer. This study aimed to investigate phytocompounds from Prunus amygdalus var amara seeds as inhibitors against EGFR and HER2 enzymes using in silico methods. In this study, fourteen phytocompounds were isolated from Prunus amygdalus var amara seeds and subjected to molecular docking studies to determine their ability to bind to EGFR and HER2 enzymes. The results showed that diosgenin and monohydroxy spirostanol exhibited binding energies comparable to those of the reference drugs, tak-285, and lapatinib. Furthermore, the drug-likeness and ADMET predictions, performed using the admetSAR 2.0 web-server tool, suggested that diosgenin and monohydroxy spirostanol have similar safety and ADMET properties as the reference drugs. To get deeper insight into the structural steadiness and flexibility of the complexes formed between these compounds and theEGFR and HER2 proteins, molecular dynamics simulations were performed for 100 ns. The results showed that the hit phytocompounds did not significantly affect the stability of the EGFR and HER2 proteins and were able to form stable interactions with the catalytic binding sites of the proteins. Additionally, the MM-PBSA analysis revealed that the binding free energy estimates for diosgenin and monohydroxy spirostanol is comparable to the reference drug, lapatinib. This study provides evidence that diosgenin and monohydroxy spirostanol may have the potential to act as dual suppressors of EGFR and HER2. Additional in vivo and in vitro research are needed to certify these results and assess their efficacy and safety as cancer therapy agents. The experimental data reported and these results are in agreement.

The extract of P. amygdalus var. amara is known for its health benefits, which include lowering diabetes and heart disease risks. In eight human tumor cell lines, P. amygdalus var. amara demonstrated potent anti-cancer activity, including NB4, Huh-7, A-549, SKOV-3, PC-3, T-24, U937, and Hep-2. There was a notable change in the morphology of nearly all cancer cell lines, and cancer cells continued to exist. Incubation for 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, or 72 h resulted in the lowest viable cell concentration at 48 h, which was 34.65% lower than that of the non-treated cells. During exposure to the extract, the majority of cells lost their typical morphology and shrank in size. According to the cell viability data, the P. amygdalus var. amara treatment significantly decreased the cancer cells’ growth in most cancer cell lines when doses and time were taken into consideration.

Background/Objectives: Artemisia annua essential oil (EO) possesses diverse biological activities; however, its practical application is limited by volatility, instability, and poor bioavailability. This study aimed to develop chitosan-coated nanostructured lipid carriers (CH-NLCs) for efficient encapsulation and delivery of A. annua EO and to evaluate their physicochemical characteristics and biological performance. Methods: The nanoformulation exhibited favorable physicochemical properties, including a high encapsulation efficiency (85.97 ± 1.30%) and a strongly positive surface charge (approximately +45 mV), indicating good colloidal stability. Structural analyses by SEM, FTIR, and XRD confirmed successful encapsulation of the EO within the nanocarrier matrix. Results: The CH-NLC formulation significantly enhanced larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti larvae, reducing the LC₅₀ value from 213 ppm for the free EO to 142 ppm. Enhanced antifungal activity was also observed, with 47–56% greater inhibition against Malassezia furfur, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Candida albicans compared with the free EO. Furthermore, CH-NLC demonstrated improved cytotoxic activity against skin cancer cell lines, achieving IC₅₀ values of 21.4 ± 1.7 µg/mL and 30.1 ± 1.6 µg/mL against A431 and A375 cells, respectively, while maintaining lower toxicity toward normal HaCaT keratinocytes. Mechanistic investigations revealed enhanced apoptosis and an approximately 3-fold increase in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in treated cancer cells. Conclusions: Collectively, these findings indicate that chitosan-coated nanostructured lipid carriers effectively improve the stability and biological efficacy of A. annua essential oil and represent a promising platform for future biomedical and biocidal applications.